A giant sinkhole has swallowed up a busy road in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday night. It was a part of the four-lane Jl. Raya Gubeng and measuring roughly 30 metres wide and 15 metres deep.
The police have cordoned off the area and arranged a traffic detour.
Rudianto, 47, a resident of Kertajaya subdistrict who was about to drive through the location said he saw trees and lampposts rocking on the roadside just before the incident.
“I thought it was an earthquake. I backed the car and went against the flow. People ran around asking for help, went out of their cars leaving their vehicle,” Rudianto said.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the sinkhole was caused by a construction error.
“The retaining wall was not able to withstand the load, especially during the rainy season,” he said in a statement, adding that there was no connection between this incident and two active earthquake faults in Surabaya and Waru.
Surabaya Deputy Mayor Wisnu Sakti Buana said the sinkhole was related to the construction of a parking basement at Siloam Hospital.
“This is related to the project on the side of the road. The Siloam Hospital project. They were supposed to build a foundation first, but they didn’t,” Buana said as quoted by tribunnews.com.
Surabaya Development Planning Agency head Eri Cahyadi concurred, saying the incident was purely caused by an error in the project.
Source: Jakarta Post
Photo: Antara/Didik Suhartono