Daily Mail quoted local officials as saying that the rare incident occurred at midnight on August 19, in the city of Yinan, a 5.5-million-people area of Sichuan province in southwestern China.
According to video from Chinese TV station CCTV, about 500 square meters of the road on the Cuibai roundabout in Nghi Tan city suddenly collapsed, creating a very large and deep hole that "swallowed" 21 cars parked on the road, along with many trees and lampposts.
The authorities said that rescue forces were sent to the scene that night to search for the victims, but fortunately no one was injured because the incident happened at night, so few people passed by. The work to overcome the consequences is still being carried out.
The cause of the incident is still unclear, however, local officials said that Tu Xuyen province has recently suffered heavy rains such as showers, leading to serious flooding.
For the first time in 70 years, floodwaters have risen to the foot of the 1,000-year-old Buddha statue of Lac Son Dai Phat in Sichuan Province.
Unusual heavy rains have left more than 200 people dead or missing this year and caused up to $25 billion in damage in China, according to statistics released by Chinese authorities.
