Huge sinkhole in Bangkok forces evacuations

A portion of a busy road in Thailand's capital caved in on Wednesday, leaving a hole dozens of metres deep that forced people to evacuate and drew a visit from the prime minister.

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Just outside a local police station and Vajira Hospital in a residential district of Bangkok, a roughly 50-metre hole pulled down power lines and exposed a burst pipe gushing water, journalists saw.

Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok's disaster prevention department, told reporters at the scene that the collapse was likely linked to heavy rain and a leaky pipe that eroded earth under the road.

"The water that eroded brought some soil that dropped down to an under-construction subway station, causing the collapse," he said, adding that there were no known casualties.