A massive sinkhole apparently brought on by heavy rain opened up in Shezhen, China, swallowing a security guard alive and causing nearby residents to evacuate. Yang Jiabin, 25, was walking in the Futian district near new construction yesterday afternoon when the ground gave way beneath him, opening into a 26 foot-wide, 52 foot-deep crater; despite the quick arrival of rescue workers, he reportedly died on-scene. The incident was capture on two closed-circuit TV cameras, and video was quickly uploaded to the Chinese sharing site Youku:
Earlier this year, a sinkhole nearly 1,000 feet wide opened in Guangzhou, another city in the Guangdong province; over two months last year, there were nearly 100 in Beijing. As in Florida—where, yesterday, another sinkhole opened near the one that killed a man earlier this month—rapid and poorly-planned development is said to be a major factor in the epidemic.
[Youku | Beijing Cream | IBT; images via AFP / Getty]