Quick-thinking China cop averts disaster before giant sinkhole swallows busy road intersection

A portion of the road collapsing into the ground, minutes after police officers had fenced off the area with traffic cones. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK VIDEO

A traffic police officer's quick-thinking actions have been lauded after he successfully averted a potential disaster at a busy road intersection laden in China's Zhejiang province last Thursday (April 21).

In a viral video of surveillance footage uploaded by news channel CCTV New on Facebook, the cop is seen at first directing traffic at the middle of the intersection in the downtown district of Hangzhou, Zhejiang's provincial capital.

He then notices a long fissure appearing on the ground, and promptly starts to wave incoming cars away from the fissure.

After retrieving several traffic cones, he proceeds to fence off the area while negotiating his way around impatient motorists.

Other officers subsequently join him to complete the task.

Just minutes later, a large portion of the fenced-off road collapsed and sank into the ground, creating a 2m-deep hole.

No one was injured as there were no vehicles around when the sinkhole appeared.

CCTV News said local authorities are investigating the cause of the collapse.

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