Sewer construction sinks Hanoi street

At around 2 p.m. Tuesday a 23-meter stretch of Vu Tong Phan Street in Thanh Xuan District sunk by around a meter. Cracks appeared on the sidewalk nearby.

Nguyen Tuan Hung, outside whose house the subsidence occurred, said it happened gradually. Vehicles still passed by and there were no mishaps, he said. The road had been inundated during the downpour the previous night, he added.

The city Department of Transport said a sewer being laid for the Yen Xa water treatment plant caused the sinkage, and called on Japanese company Tekken to temporarily suspend the construction work.

The company has deployed machinery to prevent the sunken part from falling into the To Lich River.

The stretch of road where the sinkage happened has been cordoned off.

Locals said the particular road section has subsided and been repaired in the past too.