Holy Shit – Scary Video of Giant Bangkok Sinkhole Opening Up in The Middle of a Busy Road Yesterday
BANGKOK (AP) — A part of a road in Bangkok collapsed Wednesday, leaving a large sinkhole that disrupted traffic, damaged infrastructure and prompted evacuations in the surrounding area.
There were no casualties but three vehicles were damaged by the collapse in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok city Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said, adding that officials believe the collapse was caused by construction work at an underground train station.
Videos of the collapse showed the face of the road slowly sinking, pulling down several electricity poles and damaging water pipes. Cars tried to back away as the hole grew larger and completely severed the four-lane road. One edge of the hole stopped in front of a police station, exposing its underground structure.
People were evacuated from the police station and other buildings. A nearby hospital said it would close the outpatient services for two days, although Bangkok city officials said the hospital’s structure was not affected.
I know that's technically the polar opposite of what the rapture should look like (although there was a large sinkhole in 'This Is The End'). And, I know this was a full day after the rapture was scheduled. But if you're a rapture guy living in Thailand... and all of the sudden the ground falls out from underneath your capital city... there must have been a moment there before you fully gathered your thoughts where you thought something rapture-ish was happening.
Unless sinkholes like this are just par for the course in Thailand. I feel like sinkhole-level disasters might be a regular Wednesday afternoon occurrence over there. I have zero evidence to support that, but based on the reaction of the people driving their cars no more than a long first down away from the ever-widening pit to hell... they sure didn't seem to panic. Their reaction looked more like a, "God damn it. Alright guys back it up. We got a sinkhole. We're taking the long way to work today."
Quick power ranking of sinkhole performers from the aforementioned video:
4. Drivers of cars who held strong and successfully gambled that the traffic would clear before the road beneath them fell into the earth's core. Although to be fair, I can imagine being in a position where the thought of losing my only mode of transportation would be so catastrophic that I'd think, "Fuck it. If you're going to take my car, just take me with you."
Thank god that front car got out of there in time.
3. Driver who did the exact same thing, except managed to hit a U-turn so he was able to drive straight/weave head-on into the sinkhole traffic
2. The folks who somehow managed to rescue this car before it was sucked into hell.
1. Building directly next to the sinkhole which somehow managed to come out almost completely unscathed. Somehow there were zero deaths as a result of that sinkhole, but had that building not held strong, you gotta think the death toll would be pretty significant.
BONUS #1: These cars who stupidly bravely crossed the sinkhole as started to cave in on itself
Sinkholes are about as scary as it gets. Would hate to be driving on top of one someday. They happen out of nowhere. Like when an elite athlete's achilles snaps in half out of fucking nowhere. One minute everything is fine, the next you have a year's worth of hell on your hand before getting back into working shape.
(Or however long it takes Bangkok to fix a sinkhole. If they're anything like Japan, which for some reason I kinda doubt, then they should be back to normal by this time next week)
Here are some other sinkholes for your viewing pleasure.