A sinkhole four meters wide and two meters deep appears in HCMC's Go Vap District,
August 6, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van. 

A sinkhole as big as a seven-seater vehicle appeared at a HCMC intersection following the biggest rain spell of the year Thursday night. 

Four meters in diameter and two meters deep, the hole appeared at the Phan Van Tri and Nguyen Oanh street corner in Go Vap District, exposing a system of pipes and telecommunication cables.

"Submerged under water, the street suddenly collapsed, with all the water pouring into the hole," resident Hoang, 38, said.

He confirmed the surface surrounding the sinkhole had shown no subsidence prior to the incident.

Lasting over three hours until 10 p.m., Thursday night's bout of rain inundated a series of Saigon streets.

On Friday morning, staff from HCMC Urban Drainage Co. Ltd came to clear the area around the sinkhole.

The company confirmed a degraded drainage pipe, damaged during the downpour, caused pressure to build up, and the street section to collapse.

It said repairs would conclude within a day.

Workers from HCMC Urban Drainage Co. Ltd deal with a sinkhole at
Phan Van Tri and Nguyen Oanh intersection in the morning of August 7, 2020.
Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van.

According to the Southern Hydrometeorological Observatory, Thursday evening's rain spell was the biggest so far this year, with the volume per hour peaked at 92 mm between 7 and 8 p.m., the highest in the city since rainfall data was available in 1984. Rainfall of 180 mm in 24 hours is considered heavy.

Rainfall over three hours across the city measured up to 158 mm depending on districts.

Meteorologists said heavy rains would continue in the evenings of Friday and Saturday following a low pressure in combination with seasonal wind blowing in a southwestern direction.