Massive sinkhole in Bangkok street forces evacuations

Bangkok: A portion of a busy road in Thailand s capital caved in early Wednesday, leaving a hole dozens of meters deep in front of a main hospital and...

Bangkok: A portion of a busy road in Thailand's capital caved in early Wednesday, leaving a hole dozens of meters deep in front of a main hospital and forcing people nearby to evacuate.

Just outside a local police station and Vajira Hospital in a residential district of Bangkok, a roughly 50-meter (160-foot) hole pulled down power lines and exposed a burst pipe gushing water, AFP journalists saw.

Dozens of police and city officials cordoned off the site, while a pickup truck teetered precariously on the edge of the hole.

Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok's disaster prevention department, told AFP at the scene that the collapse was likely linked to recent heavy rain and a leaky pipe.

"There was a leak in the water pipe -- water from the pipe eroded (earth) under the road so this incident happened," he said, adding that there were no known casualties.