国内英语新闻:Buildings collapse after subsidence in S China

GUANGZHOU, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Two buildings consisting of six shops collapsed Monday afternoon after subsidence in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, the municipal government has confirmed.

At around 4:40 p.m., subsidence occurred at a road junction in the Liwan district of downtown Guangzhou. Two neighboring shop buildings collapsed successively, said the Guangzhou municipal government press department.

The subsidence area, about 10-meter in depth, extended about 100 square meters.

There are no casualties from the incident, which was near a metro tunnel construction site, said Guangzhou Metro Corporation on its official Sina Weibo account, China's version of Twitter.

At 4:20 p.m., metro builders found land subsiding near the project site and helped evacuate the area. Afterwards, the ground sank and buildings collapsed, Guangzhou Metro said.

As of 8 p.m., rescuers adopted risk-prevention methods by backfilling concrete into the subsidence area. Monitoring statistics show that there is no further risk and the accident site is stable, it said.

Guangzhou municipal government authorities launched an emergency response plan and set up headquarters at the site, evacuating nearby residents and preparing for any possible risks.

The cause of the incident is being investigated.