Motorcyclist Dies After Plunging into Sinkhole That Appeared Suddenly in Seoul, South Korea

A motorcyclist has reportedly died after falling into a sinkhole in Seoul, South Korea.

According to the local outlet The Chosun Daily, Mr. Park, 34, was "found dead in a state of cardiac arrest" at around 11:22 a.m. local time on Tuesday, March 25.

Per the outlet, his body was located by rescuers 18 hours after the fire department said that the man was riding his motorcycle when the road suddenly collapsed at around 6:29 p.m. on Monday.

According to The Chosun Daily and The Korea Times, the sinkhole opened at the Daemyeong Elementary School intersection in Myeongil-dong, a neighborhood in the Gangdong-gu district. The motorcyclist then fell into the hole as he rode over it.

Mr. Heo, 48, who drove a white van through the road just before it collapsed, is also receiving treatment for minor injuries, The Chosun Daily reported.

PEOPLE has contacted the National Korean Police Agency for comment.

NBC News reported that a dashcam video showed Mr. Park drive into the sinkhole, while a car in front of him bounced as its rear wheels slightly missed the hole. The outlet added that the motorcyclist's body was located around 160 feet below the center of the sinkhole.

According to NBC News and The Korea Times, rescue personnel conducted an overnight search. Per NBC News, the team included 40 rescue personnel while the search itself lasted for 17 hours. 

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The search was reportedly a challenge due to the scene having water and soil mixed together, as well as entangled heavy machinery from a nearby construction site. “It was only after draining the area and deploying heavy equipment to remove the soil that we were able to locate the man,” an official from Gangdong Fire Station told the press, per NBC News.

The cause of the sinkhole is currently unknown but experts have suggested that poor infrastructure management, aging pipes and ongoing subway construction could have contributed to the road collapse, per The Chosun Daily. “We are not ruling out a connection to the subway construction,” a Seoul Metropolitan Government official reportedly said. ”We will need to conduct a detailed assessment before we can determine the exact cause.”

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also told reporters at the scene on Monday that officials will work to identify the cause of the sinkhole as soon as possible, per NBC News. “We will identify the cause of the accident as quickly as possible to ensure that such incidents are not repeated and that citizens can use the roads confidently,” he said.

According to The Chosun Daily and The Korea Times, Seoul Daemyeong Elementary School, Hanyoung Middle and High Schools, and Hanyoung Foreign Language High School remained closed for safety concerns.