A motorcyclist who disappeared into a massive sinkhole that suddenly opened on a Seoul street was found dead following an extensive overnight search operation, ABC News reported Tuesday.
The enormous crater – approximately 66 feet wide and 66 feet deep – appeared without warning at an intersection in the Myeongil-dong neighborhood in eastern Seoul on Monday afternoon. The sinkhole swallowed the motorcyclist and injured a woman whose van was passing over the site when the ground collapsed.
"The motorcyclist, who was in his 30s, was found before noon on Tuesday," emergency officer Kim Chang Seob told reporters during a televised briefing, according to ABC News. "He was found wearing a helmet and motorcycle boots, and rescue workers located his Japanese-made motorcycle and mobile phone before reaching his body."
Rescue efforts continued Tuesday to locate a motorcyclist who fell into a massive sinkhole in Seoul's Gangdong-gu district, more than 12 hours after the incident, authorities said.https://t.co/9QfY8etBXN pic.twitter.com/Uf3J7RD5Ng
— The Korea Herald 코리아헤럴드 (@TheKoreaHerald) March 25, 2025
Kim explained that rescuers had to deploy excavators, shovels, and other equipment during the challenging search operation. He also noted that the injured woman did not fall into the sinkhole and sustained only minor injuries in the incident. The cause of the catastrophic ground failure remains under active investigation, with city officials launching a comprehensive probe into the infrastructure failure.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the disaster site on Monday night to oversee the emergency response. "We need to find why the sinkhole happened and prevent recurrences of similar incidents," he said.
Similar incidents have occurred in cities worldwide, often linked to underground water erosion, aging utility tunnels, or construction activities that destabilize the ground.
