Sinkhole swallows up bus on busy Sydney road

A public transport bus sunk into a Sydney road on Wednesday morning after a sinkhole opened up and caused flooding across an intersection.

The incident, caused by a burst water main, unfolded at a major intersection in Caringbah, a suburb in southern Sydney, causing widespread traffic delays onwards from 11am.

Photos from the scene showed the 971 Hurstville to South Cronulla bus with its back wheels submerged in water, causing the vehicle to become stuck on a tilt.

The NSW Department of Transport urged drivers to steer clear of eastbound travel on the Kingsway and President Avenue due to the burst main near Port Hacking Road.

Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Police responded to calls for help and assisted in diverting traffic away from the area.

A spokesperson from Sydney Water said it was too soon to tell what caused the main to break, news.com.au reported.

“Safety is our number one priority and our crews were on site quickly. Once our crews have isolated the break they will start urgent repairs,” they said.

Shire News reported the bus was carrying passengers at the time, but all managed to evacuate safely without injury.

Video showed the bus slowly approaching the flooding intersection before jolting to a halt after its wheels became trapped.

A tow truck was called in to removed the vehicle from the unfortunate predicament.

In an update on the situation Wednesday evening, Live Traffic Sydney posted to Twitter that motorists could once again use the road in both directions.

“Kingsway at President Avenue. A contra flow is in operation so motorists can pass in each direction following today's earlier burst water main,” the tweet read.

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