A sewage pipeline leaking at 2:00 Tuesday morning in Beijing
caused an eastern section of the city's Third Ring Road to cave in,
creating a hole 20 meters long, 10 meters wide and 10 meters
deep.
The accident, close to Jingguang Flyover in the busy downtown
area of the city, caused a traffic jam. However, there were no
casualties, since no one was working there at the time. The
accident also created several cracks on the main road.
"Filthy water leaked out of the pipe and poured into a section
of the subway line that is under construction," Beijing Evening
News quoted a witness as saying.
The area has been cordoned off since the accident, forcing 31
bus lines to change routes. Repair work is still ongoing and is
expected to last?three days.
China Mobile sent group messages to inform its users of the
traffic control in the area yesterday morning, in order to let
people choose other routes to avoid the heavy traffic.
(China Daily, China.org.cn January 4,
2006)
