TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a small delivery truck fell into a sinkhole on Wednesday (March 6), a crane sent to pull it out collapsed onto a Tainan street.
A sinkhole 15 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 3 meters deep formed near the intersection of Wufei Street and Ximen Road next to a construction site in the afternoon, causing the delivery truck to fall in at 5:43 p.m., reported TVBS.
Tainan's Bureau of Public Works sent personnel to the scene, while the police blocked off the surrounding roads.
Around 7 p.m., a construction company deployed a crane to lift the truck from the pit. It is suspected that the ground was unable to bear the load of the crane truck, and it collapsed at 8:10 p.m.
The crane's boom fell onto the street, spanning the section of Ximen Road. The boom crushed a police car and damaged a traffic light and a residential building, but no injuries were reported.
Tainan City Deputy Mayor Chao Ching-hui (趙卿惠) rushed to the scene to oversee coordination. The city government noted that Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), who is currently in Tokyo, Japan, has canceled his itinerary and will take a flight back to Taiwan.
The Bureau of Public Works said because the sinkhole was next to a construction project managed by Golden Huang Long Construction Co. that involved the excavation of retaining structures, work was halted due to public safety concerns. According to the bureau, an investigation is underway to clarify the cause of the incident.
Delivery truck falls into a sinkhole. (Facebook, Tainan Style photo)
Crane collapsed onto street. (CNA photo)
