The couple had just gotten off of a bus in Seoul, hustling along to go wherever it is they were going. A CCTV camera captures them rushing onto the sidewalk and moving along quickly. Then — they’re gone. The ground, the sidewalk, beneath them disappears and down they go.
Another man narrowly avoids joining them and peers toward the hole before the bus driver shows up and has a look. No one can immediately do anything and the disappeared couple is not seen again in the video. However, emergency personal were called and the two were rescued from the hole.
They fell about 10 feet and suffered only minor injuries, though doubtless it was a terrifying experience. Both were taken to hospital, treated and released.
The incident has not only gone viral but it has again sparked conversation about public safety issues in South Korea. This in the wake of the ferry disaster last April that took the lives of 304 students and the collapse of a ventilation grate at a concert near Seoul last October that killed 16 and seriously injured another 9.
Officials believe the sidewalk likely swallowed the couple due to construction work nearby causing erosion. An investigation has been launched and with South Koreans now feeling skittish about the country’s national safety standards, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport ordered an investigation into land surrounding construction sites in the country.
The names of the couple who plummeted into the Earth have not been released.
