Body Found 1 Month After Sinkhole in Guangzhou, 2 Still Missing

By Ryan Gandolfo, January 10, 2020

UPDATE (January 13, 2020 4.59pm CST): All three bodies have been recovered from the sinkhole site. Click here to learn more.

Over a month after a sinkhole opened up on a road in Guangzhou’s Tianhe district, city metro authorities confirmed that search and rescue workers have found one of the bodies that were lost in the tragic incident.

On January 6, Guangzhou Metro’s official Weibo account posted, “The public security bureau conducted on-site evidence collection and verified the identity of the victim. After preliminary confirmation, the missing victim was Luo,” a 53-year-old man from Hunan province who fell into the sinkhole while on his electric bike. Around 4.30am on Monday, rescue workers discovered Luo’s body about 21 meters below the road surface. Workers observed a three-minute silence after bringing the body aboveground, and Luo’s family has since been notified.

WATCH: Massive Sinkhole Destroys Road in Guangzhou

Two victims remain missing: a 52-year-old father and his 27-year-old son, who both fell into the sinkhole while driving in a truck on December 1. Search and rescue efforts are still underway.

Image via @吃瓜不要皮R/Weibo

At the time of the road collapse, the rescue mission was hindered as the size of the sinkhole expanded. The sinkhole area was then filled up one day after the incident occurred, with workers creating a platform to conduct a comprehensive search and rescue mission under the surface.

[Cover image: screengrab via Weibo]