A video of a massive sinkhole in China's Shanghai has gone viral on social media, showing vehicles falling into it and the road collapsing. The incident is reported to have taken place on Thursday (February 12) due to a leak at a nearby metro construction site in the country's global financial centre.
According to a report by Gulf News, no casualties have been reported in the massive cave-in that took place at the intersection of Qixin Road and Li'an Road in the Minhang district.
The cave-in took place during the tunnelling work at the site by the China Railway Tunnel Group. During the work, groundwater breached the site.
The exact date of the incident has not been officially confirmed by the authorities, but the satellite imagery shows no sinkhole on the morning of February 11, 2026. By the morning of February 12, a crater had appeared.
Soon after the incident, local authorities cordoned off the area and started debris cleaning efforts. The video has sent chills across social media since it first surfaced.
The viral video also shows some containers and barricades going down along with the road.
Shanghai prone to sinkholes
Reports suggest that Shanghai has soft alluvial soil, and because of the excessive groundwater extraction, thin sand layers, the city is on a constant risk of caving roads.
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It is not the first time such an incident has taken place in Shanghai. Earlier in January 2024, a part of a road in the Minhang district caved in due to a sewage pipe failure.
Months before than in August 2023, another sinkhole had appeared in another area of the city.