Sinkhole of 50m causes panic

A portion of a busy road in Thailand's capital caved in early yesterday, leaving a hole dozens of metres deep in front of a main hospital and forcing people nearby to evacuate.

- 

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

Dozens of police and city officials cordoned off the site, while a pickup truck teetered precariously on the edge of the hole.

Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok's disaster prevention department, said at the scene the collapse was likely linked to recent heavy rain and a leaky pipe.