Giant sinkhole swallows Japan city street

A giant sinkhole appeared in the middle of a busy Japanese city yesterday, swallowing part of a five-lane street near the main railway station.

The gaping hole, around 30 metres (98 feet) wide, exposed support columns of nearby buildings at a traffic intersection in the southern city of Fukuoka, prompting fears of further collapses.

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TV footage showed two separate holes steadily expanding as they sucked in asphalt and soil in front of the city's Hakata Station, some time after 5am (2000 GMT Monday).