Beijing road collapse causes hole lot of trouble
BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Beijing scrambled on Friday to fix a road near one of the central business district's busiest intersections that collapsed above a pedestrian tunnel as the capital rapidly rebuilds for next year's Olympics.
Police cut off a section of West Dawang Road in Beijing's inner east after it collapsed on Thursday night leaving a house-sized crater and causing a major traffic jam.
The road started to crack and gush water around 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Thursday and gradually crumbled over the next two hours to form a "five-or-six metre deep" hole, Friday's Beijing News said, citing witnesses.
The collapse ruptured a major water pipe and severed optical cables but caused no injuries, the paper said.
On Friday morning, the road was sealed off and construction sheds had been set up around the crater, which spanned three lanes.
The paper quoted "personnel" as saying the whole tunnel project might be abandoned, and that water leaks had occurred on many occasions since construction began in June.
Beijing's frantic efforts to build roads, transport and infrastructure ahead of the Olympic Games have not passed without incident.
In April, police detained 10 people in connection with the collapse of Beijing subway tunnel that killed six workers. The firm involved failed to report the accident for nearly eight hours and instead tried to rescue the workers itself.
Last year, two people were killed on the same subway line and in January 2006, another section of highway near Beijing's central business district collapsed, rupturing a sewerage pipe and flooding a subway construction site.
