Sinkhole in China swallows 5 people

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BEIJING (AP) — A sinkhole in a northeastern Chinese city swallowed five people in a dramatic scene that was captured on security video and shared widely on Chinese social media.

A provincial broadcaster said four people were injured in the Saturday incident in the provincial capital of Harbin.

The surveillance camera video shows pedestrians walking or standing on the sidewalk when it suddenly gave in.

Three people fell straight into the hole, while a woman clung to pipes just underneath the sidewalk. Another person standing on the edge fell sideways into the hole.

Heilongjiang Network Broadcasting Television said the people were probably waiting for a bus because it occurred at a bus stop. The bus sign also was swallowed by the sinkhole, the broadcaster said.

Passers-by pulled the victims from the hole, which was about 3 meters (10 feet) deep, the broadcaster said.

It said four received minor injuries to their feet, legs, arms and shoulders.

It was not immediately clear what caused the sidewalk to collapse.

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