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Woman Disappears Down Sinkhole As She Strolls Along Pavement

Woman Disappears Down Sinkhole As She Strolls Along Pavement

The pavement opened up right beneath the woman as she strolled along the street

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

This is the moment a woman survived being swallowed up by a large sinkhole, after it suddenly opened up in the pavement beneath her feet.

In the video, the unnamed woman can be seen walking along the bricked pavement when the ground beneath her feet suddenly gives way, causing her to disappear into the ground mere feet away from stunned witnesses.

It looks like the woman hits her head on the way down as her body drops through the floor.

CCTV cameras captured the accident in Lanzhou, the capital city of China's north-western province of Gansu.

The sinkhole, measuring nine square metres - roughly 96 square feet - is reported to have appeared at around 6pm on 11 November as the woman approached a bus stop.

Security camera footage shows a number of people standing on the pavement ahead of the victim waiting for a bus when the bricks beneath the pedestrian's feet sink into the ground.

The floor beneath the woman gave way as she walked to the bus stop.
AsiaWire

She is later seen half buried in debris but still conscious and calling for help.

Medics at the Affiliated Hospital of Gansu College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where the woman is being treated, said she suffered two broken ribs during the accident.

Local authorities are investigating the incident and have yet to determine the cause of the sinkhole.

The woman broke two ribs as she fell through the sinkhole.
AsiaWire

Back in May a huge sinkhole formed at a farm in New Zealand - it was thought to be the largest seen in the country.

The mammoth opening torw its way through farmland in the country's North Island, revealing a great, big trench, measuring more than the length of two football fields and deeper than a six-storey building.

Sinkhole in New Zealand.
PA

The sinkhole, situated about 15 kilometres south-east of the city of Rotorua in a region called Earthquake Flat, is estimated to have taken a century to form.

Volcanologist Brad Scott from Kiwi geoscience firm GNS Science told AP: "The largest I've seen prior to this would be about a third of the size of this, so this is really big."

A farm assistant became the first to discover the colossal trench while rounding up cows for milking before the sun came up. He only narrowly avoided riding into it on his motorbike.

PA

"It wasn't until I came down in daylight that I actually saw just how big it was," said farm manager Colin Tremain.

"We'll keep it fenced off as it is to keep stock out, although stock aren't stupid, they're not going to walk into a hole, they can spot danger."

Featured Image Credit: AsiaWire

Topics: World News, News, China