TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A sudden sinkhole opened up during the morning rush hour at a busy intersection in Taipei's upscale Songshan District (松山區), a commercial and residential hub in the eastern part of Taiwan's capital city, on Tuesday (July 1). Municipal authorities received reports of the road collapse at the junction of Changchun Road (長春路) and Qingcheng Street (慶城街) at precisely 11:28 a.m., prompting an immediate emergency response as officials scrambled to redirect traffic and secure the area.
City engineers conducting initial assessments at the scene reported that the cavity measures approximately 2 meters in length, 1 meter in width, and extends 1 meter below the road surface, with preliminary examinations indicating no immediate risk of further collapse or expansion. Traffic police rapidly established a safety perimeter around the hazard, using barricades and high-visibility warning cones to divert vehicles and pedestrians away from the compromised roadway. Meanwhile, specialists from the New Construction Office of Taipei's Public Works Department (臺北市政府工務局新建工程處), the municipal agency responsible for urban infrastructure maintenance, arrived with surveying equipment to determine the underlying cause of the sudden road failure.
The rapid emergency response reflects standard protocols in Taipei, a city where aging underground infrastructure occasionally gives way beneath the dense urban landscape despite rigorous maintenance schedules. A representative from the Public Works Department confirmed to local media that the immediate area remains secure, with no structural threats detected to adjacent buildings or utility lines running beneath the affected intersection. City officials have announced that engineering teams will continue their technical assessment throughout the day, with repair work likely to commence once the underlying cause — potentially related to recent heavy rainfall or underground water pipe leakage — is definitively identified and addressed. ◼