This video shows a cabbie escaping from his taxi moments after it was swallowed whole by a 2,000-square-foot sinkhole.
Taxi driver Mr Guo is seen sprinting out of the collapsed section of Wenhua Road, which is in the city of Guyuan in north-western China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on the morning of 9th September.
Video Credit AsiaWire
The cabbie, 33, said he had just dropped off a passenger when this vehicle sunk into the ground, which was soon revealed to a 13-foot-deep sinkhole measuring 2,000-square-foot in size.
Mr Guo said: “There are always plenty of people going to work and school on Mondays. And the weather was bad, so there were more passengers than usual.
“After my passenger got out, I drove forwards, then my car suddenly began sinking into the ground.
“I was shocked and immediately tried to open my door to get out.
“But my car became misshapen in the sinkhole, so I had to kick it open and then ran out.”
City officials have blamed a burst pipe for the sinkhole, saying the water main inside a nearby residential area broke as a result of torrential rain, filling and saturating the ground with water.
The road section has been sealed off and will be filled in the coming days, reports said.
Mr Guo said: “Those who survive catastrophe are destined for good fortune.
“I was lucky and was unharmed, but my car…
“It was with me for three years and is my main means of income, so I feel bad about that.”
It is still unclear whether the city of Guyuan will compensate the owner of the taxi, which an image showed had been completely flattened from above by the sinkhole.
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Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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