Huge hole remains
Ground next to Chilean skyscraper breaks away
08/24/2023 11:02 p.m
There are many disaster scenarios for high-rise buildings. Fire or collapse are probably the most common. A huge hole in the ground that threatens statics is rare. In Chile, a building in an exclusive residential area has now been hit. The trigger could be an overloaded sewage system.
After heavy rain, a large hole has opened in the ground in an exclusive residential area on Chile’s Pacific coast. A multi-storey house right on the edge of the demolition was evacuated. On Thursday, residents of Edificio Kandinsky, with the help of police, took their personal belongings from the apartments, according to a video released by radio station Cooperativa. Most recently, exceptionally heavy rainfall was recorded in parts of Chile.
According to initial findings, an underground rainwater catchment basin has collapsed, triggering a landslide on the dunes between the towns of Concón and Viña del Mar in the Valparaíso region. The heavy rain then enlarged the hole and also swept away parts of the coastal road.
According to Mayor Macarena Ripamonti, more and more buildings had recently been connected to the sewage system, which apparently exceeded the capacity of the collection basin.