Workers Just Sat There Watching A Sinkhole Open To Make Sure It Was Real

Sinkholes are the stuff of nightmares for some, and earlier this week, a gargantuan one suddenly opened up at a large intersection in Shanghai, China. Remarkably, it doesn’t appear as though anyone was injured or killed, even as the sinkhole swallowed up construction equipment.

The sinkhole formed near Qixin Road in the city’s Minhang District while construction crews were working on site. The timing, oddly enough, proved fortunate. With the area already occupied by work teams rather than passing traffic, there were no cars caught in the collapse.

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According to a report from TimesNowWorld, local crews had discovered a water leak during excavations tied to the nearby Jiamin Metro Line the day before the incident. Authorities reportedly responded by closing the intersection to traffic while efforts were made to pump out the water. That precaution may have prevented a far worse outcome.

Sudden Ground Failure

Footage captures the sinkhole tearing open along the right side of the road, steadily consuming barriers, materials, and heavy construction equipment. More than a dozen workers stand just feet from the edge as the surface buckles and drops away beneath them.

What stands out is how long they linger. For nearly 20 seconds, several remain in place, watching as the ground disappears, as if waiting for a cue that this is not, in fact, a good time to hang around. Only then do they finally bolt, scrambling away as the crater continues to widen.

Moments after the ground stops collapsing, water can be seen gushing into the sinkhole, presumably from the water leak that had been discovered the day before.

Why Shanghai Sees Sinkholes

Local media point out that Shanghai sits in the Yangtze River Delta, where water saturated soil and fine grained Quaternary clay dominate the landscape. In such conditions, ground stability is always a careful balance.

Sinkholes are not unusual in the city of 25 million, often triggered by underground construction activity, as appears to be the case here. A 2023 study that about 87 percent of Shanghai’s sinkholes opened in urban areas, a statistic that says plenty about what happens when rapid development meets soft, waterlogged ground.