Two ground cave-ins occurred Thursday in north China's Taiyuan City, capital of Shanxi Province, triggering a partial collapse of a four-storey building.
No casualties have been reported.
Both cave-ins occurred on the pedestrian way in front of the dentistry department in the east wing of Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital at around 8 a.m..
"The small pit is seven meters long, four meters wide and six meters deep; and the big pit is 15 meters long, 12 meters wide and eight meters deep," said Bai Jiwu, a staff member with the urban planning department of the city government.
The reason the cave-ins occurred has not been determined, said Bai. "But we guess possible reasons might be damage to the underground tunnels or seepage of ground water."
A witness, with the surname Li, said that when he walked by the hospital in the morning he saw the road sinking slowly.
"Then there was a sudden loud noise and two big holes were formed on the ground within a distance of 30 meters," he said.
The partially collapsed building was the dormitory of the hospital. A doctor surnamed Liu said, "The accident happened during the day time, when people are out working. So luckily, no one was hurt."
Police have cordoned off the area. An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.
Source:Xinhua
