In the afternoon of July 23, the ground of a building site caved in Zijin Street, near the Jiangnan Xi metro station in GuangZhou. The remaining hole was about 6 meters deep and 25 meters wide.

Three cars parking on the road fall in the hole.

Fortunately, nobody was wounded, but more than 400 nearby residents were asked to leave their homes as a precaution. They were allowed to return home at 6 p.m. the following day. The construction company arranged hotel accommodation and financial compensation for residents.

Miss Wang, who lives at No. 53 building of Zijin Street, claims she witnessed the accident from her balcony. She said, “At 3 p.m. of July 23 when the excavator was digging, a water pipe suddenly burst and water spurted out. One hour later, the ground began to drop like soft sand and three cars parking on the road began to sink.” As soon as the residents noticed the accident, they rushed out of their houses before local police hung a security line.

As a result of the land subsidence, the building now leans by 3 millimeters. According to Mr. Jiang, a supervisor at the site, this is within the security standard. To ensure safety, however, concrete was filled in by the workers. The accident is believed to have been caused by the collapse of an abamurus – a supporting buttress for a wall.