A massive sinkhole has opened up in a commercial building in Sydney’s south above the construction of the M6 tunnel.
Emergency services responded to a call at 5am reporting a building collapse on West Botany Street in Rockdale.
Upon arrival, they discovered that a sinkhole had formed in front of the building.
Employees working at the complex were notified around 6 a.m.
At the time of the collapse, excavation work was being carried out inside the M6 tunnel, which has now been stopped.
“From what we can gather, there was a small trickle of material coming out of the surface of the tunnel they are currently mining,” Australian Workers Union Steve Ackerman told media.
It progressively got worse and the correct decision was made to suspend that work and evict the workers.’
Officials said no one was injured and all workers were accounted for, both on the surface and inside the tunnel construction.
The cause of the sinkhole is still unclear.
Workers have been building two long tunnels, each about four kilometers long, between Arncliffe and President Avenue in Kogarah for the M6 motorway.
Transport for NSW will investigate whether there is any link between the land subsidence and the construction of the M6 motorway.
More to come.
The sinkhole is believed to have opened overnight or early this morning near an industrial complex in Sydney’s south.
Emergency services are at the scene of a huge sinkhole in Rockdale
