Motorbike and Mobile Phone Found
A large sinkhole occurred at an intersection in Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, and the search to rescue the motorbike rider buried in it has continued for the second day. The fire authorities announced that they decided to empty all the fuel tanks at a nearby gas station due to concerns about fuel leakage and surface stabilization work.
On the 24th, a large sinkhole spanning four lanes occurred at an intersection near Daemyeong Elementary School in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. On the 25th, the area around the accident site is being cordoned off. One passenger car and one motorcycle fell into the sinkhole, and one occupant of the passenger car was transported to a nearby hospital. Currently, one motorcycle driver is buried under the sinkhole. The depth is estimated to be 30 meters. 2025. 03. 25 Photo by Yoon Dong-ju
On the morning of the 25th, Gangdong Fire Station said in a briefing, "We decided to remove all the gasoline and diesel from the gas station's tanker trucks due to concerns about possible fuel leakage during the sinkhole search operation and the need for surface stabilization work for heavy equipment deployment," they explained.
The fire authorities stated, "Since it is expected to take considerable time to remove all the fuel from the tanker trucks, we will first remove the fuel from the two tanker trucks closest to the sinkhole," adding, "We plan to start the fuel removal operation as early as 11 a.m."
The fire authorities found the motorbike that fell into the sinkhole around 3:30 a.m., but the rider has not yet been rescued. The motorbike was reportedly located about 30 meters underground from the point where the sinkhole occurred. Earlier, at around 1:37 a.m., a mobile phone presumed to belong to the rider was also found.
Since 7 a.m., two excavators have been deployed at the accident site to conduct search operations. The water inside the sinkhole has almost drained, improving the search conditions, and once the water inside the sinkhole dries and hardens, additional heavy equipment can be deployed.
Earlier, at around 6:29 p.m. on the 24th, a large sinkhole approximately 20 meters in diameter and 20 meters deep occurred at an intersection near Daemyeong Elementary School in Gangdong-gu. One motorbike rider fell into the sinkhole and went missing, and one car driver narrowly avoided the collapse but sustained minor injuries and received hospital treatment. The police and fire authorities are investigating the cause of the sinkhole, considering various factors including the extension construction of Subway Line 9.
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