A tunnel collapse opened up a hole more than 60 feet deep in a Bangkok road early Wednesday morning.
The road collapsed around 7 a.m. local time, before the morning rush hour. Two cars parked on the road fell into the hole, but no one was inside and there were no injuries, according to a spokesman for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. He said that the hole was nearly 100 feet wide.
The cause of the collapse appeared to be a water leak from a burst pipe in a tunnel meant to extend the city’s subway system, Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt of Bangkok told reporters on Wednesday. The city’s authorities cut off the area’s water supply after the collapse and were inspecting surrounding structures, including a police station near the edge of the hole that had been evacuated, Mr. Chadchart said.
A hospital across the street from the police station remained safe from collapse because of its underground walls, Mr. Chadchart said.
The collapsed tunnel was built to extend Bangkok Mass Rapid Transit’s Purple Line, connecting the western suburbs to the Dusit district, a riverfront area popular among tourists for its royal palaces, Buddhist temples and old shop houses. The hole was less than 2 miles from Dusit Palace, where the Thai royal family lives.
Once completed, the Purple Line will run under Thailand’s Parliament complex and the National Library.
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, which is constructing the subway extension, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Bangkok Expressway and Metro, which operates the actively running section of the Purple Line, said it was not involved in the new extension.
An official from the Mass Rapid Transit Authority met with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Mr. Chadchart to discuss the hole on Wednesday morning, according to the governor’s office.
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
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