SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — A gaping sinkhole was visible at a Shanghai construction site on Friday, according to an AFP reporter, a day after dramatic footage purporting to show the ground collapsing went viral.

The edges of a large crater matching the location seen in the videos — a work site for a section of a new metro line in an outer district of the city — could be seen from a nearby shopping mall.

Sections of the roads nearby were blocked off, with police and construction vehicles surrounding the site.

Local authorities confirmed there were no casualties.

Videos circulating widely appeared to show the ground suddenly begin to collapse, dragging temporary building structures into a widening chasm.

AFP has not been able to confirm these videos are real, with verification tools suggesting there was a chance they had been made or enhanced with AI.

Local media cited shop owners nearby as saying the incident had happened during Thursday morning rush hour.

On Wednesday the state-owned enterprise overseeing the construction said in a statement it had identified a leak at the site, and had “immediately activated an emergency response plan”.

The exact cause would be announced through official channels, local media cited officials as saying.

Sinkholes are not unknown in China. In 2020, one swallowed a bus and pedestrians in northwest China, killing nine people.