A 15-meter wide sinkhole appears in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, with a depth of 6 meters

(Beijing) – China's megacities are developing a growing number of sinkholes and experts say a combination of aging water pipe networks and underground infrastructure projects are raising the risk of sinkhole disasters.

On August 14, an 8-year-old girl named Lin Yuetong and a woman named Sun Shuying died after plunging into a 10-meter diameter sinkhole in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.