A giant hole swallowed a huge chunk of Jalan Raya Gubeng in the East Java capital city of Surabaya, East Java last night, with reports saying that the hole is estimated to be around 25 meters wide and 10 meters deep.
According to reports, a large chunk of the busy downtown road suddenly caved in right by a construction site for a hospital. The CNN Indonesia news report below shows amateur footage of the dramatic moments of the road’s collapse as well as aerial shots showing the aftermath.
Luckily, there were no reports of any casualties from the ground collapse.
Investigation into the cause of the collapse is ongoing, but the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has already pinpointed the nearby hospital construction site as a possible cause.
“So the construction of the hospital’s basement does not feature retaining walls that should be adjacent to the road, causing the potential for the layer of earth underneath [the road] to be pushed horizontally or slide,” BNPB Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said at a press conference, as quoted by Kompas, adding that recent heavy rainfall in the area could have played a part.
While that description is apt for a sinkhole, the Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) didn’t call the giant ground cavity as such because it wasn’t the result of naturally occurring phenomenon. They also said said no seismic activity was recorded before the collapse.
The Surabaya Police have questioned 30 workers at the hospital construction site, but have not elaborated further on their investigation.
Jalan Raya Gubeng is now closed, but based on predictions by civil engineering and geotechnical experts, the road could be rebuilt and be back to normal within one or two weeks.
