A Chinese police officer saved several drivers from going into a large sinkhole that opened up in the middle of a busy intersection.

The lone cop stood in the middle of traffic to usher motorists around the small crack that appeared in the road surface.

View photos The cop spotted the crack and got cracking on redirecting traffic. Source: CCTV More

Cars streamed through the intersection as the quick-acting cop tiptoed around the slow-burgeoning crevasse in the road.

Reinforcements arrived with witch's hats to cordon off what in moments would become a gaping hole in the ground.

View photos The officer stood close to the crack as he shepherded cars away. Source: CCTV More

With traffic safely diverted, the roadway wept into the darkness below like it was made of nothing more than Play-Doh – yet it carried traffic's weight only moments earlier.

The sinkhole formed on Thursday in the downtown area of Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang Province.





View photos

View photos Other police arrived to section off the crack, but the sinkhole opened soon after. Source: CCTV More

There is "further investigation over the collapse… currently underway," state media outlet CCTV reports.

The Hangzhou sinkhole is another example of sub-standard and shoddy workmanship underpinning some of the infrastructure in the economic powerhouse.

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