A man who fell into a large sinkhole in Seoul, South Korea, has been found dead, according to the local fire department. The man was riding his motorbike in the Gangdong district when the road caved in at around 6.30pm local time on Monday. Rescuers found his body underground on Tuesday morning, around 50m from where he had fallen in. A car driver was also injured in the incident, which has gone viral on social media.

A dashcam video circulating online shows the moment the road caved in near a traffic junction, with the motorcyclist falling into the hole while a car narrowly missed it. Earlier on Tuesday, rescuers found a mobile phone and the motorcycle in the hole, which is 20m wide and 20m deep. The man, said to be in his 30s, has not been named by authorities.

Kim Chang-seop, head of Gangdong fire station, stated that there were 2,000 tons of soil and water mixed inside the hole. Authorities have yet to reveal the cause of the sinkhole. A report submitted to the Seoul city government shows that 223 sinkholes have occurred in the city in the past decade.

Similar incidents have occurred in other cities, such as Yashio, Japan, where a truck driver went missing after his truck fell into a sinkhole in January, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where a search for a woman who disappeared into a pavement sinkhole was called off after a week. Common causes of sinkholes include the breakdown of rocks like limestone or chalk, human activities like excavation works, and the collapse of overlying rock layers.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd923lzdwkqo