CHENNAI: Driving on Anna Salai became a scary affair on Sunday as the road caved in near the Gemini flyover, trapping an MTC bus with about 25 passengers and a car. Luckily, none suffered major injuries and all of them got out of the vehicles quickly.The Chennai Metro Rail had been carrying out tunnelling work for the underground track about 18 m beneath the Thousand Lights-DMS stretch. But the CMRL attributed the incident to “the existing loose soil pocket”.
“There was a crack in the road, a mild tremor, and the bus started going in; the passengers rushed out. Then, a car close behind also went in,” recounted A Saravanan, who watched the incident that happened around 2 pm near the Church Park bus stop. Saravanan and others stopped other vehicles approaching the spot.
The police blocked traffic movement on the arterial road and within a few hours, both vehicles were pulled out. The hole was filled with concrete and Metro Rail said the road would again be safe for use by Monday morning.