In mainland China, accidents in the construction of subways are occurring frequently. On the night of June 30th, around 11 o’clock in the evening, a sudden rush of water and sand occurred during the construction of the subway in Xi’an. By the early hours of July 1st, a portion of the road collapsed, creating a massive sinkhole that disrupted traffic.
According to reports from CCTV and Huashang Daily among other media outlets, around 11 p.m. on June 30th, a sudden rush of water and sand occurred during the construction of the connecting passage between Kaiyuanmen Station and Tumen Station on Line 8 of the subway under construction in Xi’an, Shaanxi. At around 8 a.m. today (July 1st), a collapse appeared on a section of the road in the area.
Footage from the scene shows a massive sinkhole on the road continuously flooding with water and sand, occasionally emitting loud noises.
Officials have stated that there were no casualties at the scene.
Netizens commented, “It’s really scary.” “Looks so terrifying.”
Public data shows that Xi’an Metro Line 8 is a circular line passing through the districts of Yanta, Xin Cheng, Baqiao, Weiyang, and Lianhu, traversing areas such as Xi’an High-tech Zone, Qujiang New District, Chanba Ecological Zone, Economic Development Zone, and Daxing New District, with a total length of approximately 49.896 kilometers. All of the 37 stations and 18 interchange stations are underground. In a report released by the Xi’an municipal government on February 2nd, it was mentioned that in 2024, Xi’an Metro Line 8, Phase 1 of Line 10, Phase 1 of the south section of Line 6, and Phase 1 of the east section of Line 5 will commence operation.
Earlier on April 18th, an accident occurred on Line 10 of the Xi’an Metro around 23:50. Images from the scene shared by netizens showed severe damage to the front and carriages of the train. Authorities stated that during the type test of the experimental vehicle on the route, an accident occurred due to improper operation by the debugging personnel of the vehicle company, resulting in a rear-end collision, causing one person from the testing company to unfortunately lose their life, with two others injured.
Accidents involving road collapse due to subway construction are not uncommon in mainland China. In Chengdu, a subway station under construction experienced a road collapse at 3:50 a.m. on June 21st, creating a massive void of 12 meters. Officials stated that there were no casualties in this incident.