A road collapsed during morning rush hour in Bangkok this morning - dragging one vehicle into the abyss and leaving others teetering on the edge.

The 90ft wide sinkhole opened up in front of a hospital and police station on the bustling Samsen Road in the Dusit district of the Thai capital at around 7:15am local time.

Horrifying footage shows onlookers screaming as concrete plunged 160ft into the abyss and electricity lines were dragged down in flashes of sparks.

Patients at the Vajira Hospital were evacuated amid fears nearby buildings could be dragged into the chasm. Residents in the overlooking flats were also instructed to leave the area.

Miraculously, nobody is believed to have been injured. However, officials said 'two or three' police vehicles had been lost in the sinkhole.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt arrived at the scene at 8am to assess the situation. He said recent construction from an undergound train for the city's MRT purple line may have contributed to the collapse.

He said: 'Once the road was damaged, debris from the surface poured into the underground construction void, causing the area nearby to fall inside.'

Police Lieutenant General Sayam Boonsom, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the area was undergoing roadworks at the time of the collapse.

Officers said a damaged water pipe could have caused the earth to weaken.

The police chief said: 'A preliminary assessment has found that construction activity may have caused the ground to sink and form a cavity underneath. The ground continued to subside.

'The area is being secured and investigations are ongoing into the cause, with several organisations working to assess the damage and the structural safety of the road.'