HSINCHU (TVBS News) — A 7-meter-deep, 4.2 meters long, and 3.5 meters wide sinkhole appeared at the intersection of Guangming 6th Road and Xianzheng 7th Street in Zhubei City, Hsinchu County, on Monday (Aug. 21), with residents reporting a strong smell of gas at the site followed by a temporary closure.
After receiving a gas leak notification at 10:38 a.m., the Fire Bureau of Hsinchu County Government took prompt action by dispatching personnel to the site and shutting off gas lines and water pipelines to eliminate further gas leakage and water spillage concerns.
Yang Wen-ke, the county magistrate, later confirmed that after the Department of Public Works had talked to the contractors, they determined that the sinkhole was possibly caused by construction at an adjacent site.
Yang issued an emergency order to halt operations at the construction site and asserted potential legal penalties.
The county government has reported related units and work-site contractors to ascertain the precise reason behind the incident.
