This past Monday evening, multiple lives were changed forever after a sinkhole opened up outside of a local hospital in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province in the nation of China. Footage captured by nearby CCTV footage showed the tragic event take place as an entire bus was swallowed by the ground pulling bystanders into the hole which was then followed by an explosion. 

According to BBC, the sinkhole approximately 10m (32 feet) in diameter, killed six civilians and injured sixteen others who were able to scramble out of the pit before the fiery combustion took place. Some bystanders attempted to rescue the bus passengers but also ended up engulfed in the sinkhole as it widened. 

Construction is usually to blame for the recent rise of sinkholes in China due to the country’s rapid pace in development and lackadaisical precautionary safety measures. In 2018, four pedestrians were killed when the pavement opened up on a busy street in the city of Dazhou. A similar incident took place in 2013 when five people were killed in an industrial estate in Shenzhen.

Check out the tragic aftermath footage of the sinkhole that has changed the lives of those affected this past Monday evening in the video provided above.