A pickup truck partially plunged into a sinkhole on the inbound lanes of the notorious Rama II Road in Samut Sakhon province this morning. The driver was not injured.
The sinkhole measured about 4 metres wide, 6 metres long and was about a metre deep.
The incident occurred at around 6am near Big C Rama II, on the parallel lane at kilometre marker 29+350, in the area under the Mahachai Highway Maintenance Section in Muang Samut Sakhon district.
Police say a pickup truck fell into the hole, with its front right wheel trapped in the void.
The vehicle was also found to be pressing on a large water pipe, causing water to gush out and flood the road surface.
The pickup driver said the road looked normal at the time and that there were no cones or warning signs.
“I was driving behind a six-wheel truck when, as I reached the spot, the road suddenly collapsed. My vehicle tilted and sank immediately. Luckily, I wasn’t driving fast because traffic was heavy. I wasn’t injured, but I was very shocked by what happened,” he said.
An initial investigation has found that the site was an area where the Samut Sakhon Municipality Waterworks Division had previously excavated the road surface to connect a 1-metre-diameter water pipeline and had already reinstated the road.
By 9am, the municipal waterworks authority had cut the water supply and the pickup truck had been removed.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the initial cause was a burst water main, belonging to the Samut Sakhon Municipality Waterworks Division.
He said the pipe ruptured during excavation work, to connect the pipeline and reinstate the road surface, resulting in the pavement collapsing into a sinkhole.
The road subsidence occurred just two days after a deadly crane collapse on the same road, in which a construction crane toppled onto moving vehicles, killing two people.
The back-to-back incidents have renewed public concern over safety conditions along Rama II Road, which has been plagued by repeated construction-related accidents.
