Kuching: The stretch of road at Mile 13 Jalan Matang collapsed about 9.30pm Tuesday due to soil erosion following a heavy downpour.

The collapsed stretch of about 60 metres caused traffic to move slow in part to drivers slowing down to take a look.

The road is still passable though because the other half remains intact. Several telephone poles also collapsed due to the soil erosion.

The area is roughly one km from Kuching Polytechnic in Matang.

Several police personnel have been assigned to control the traffic flow at two locations in the area.

Workers of CMS Road Sdn Bhd and a number of heavy machinery were also seen at the scene to remedy the situation.

According to a villager who only wanted to be known as Mark, he thought he saw soil movement when passing that area earlier in the day.

The villager, from Kampung Sungai Gas Lama, said he only knew the situation was really bad upon noticing policemen blocking one side of the damaged section early that morning.

He said he was on the way sending his wife to work at the polytechnic.

Another villager going by the name Jimbai also said a minor land slide had occurred in the area prior to this one.

He too believed that the presence of underground water due to the heavy rain was the cause of the land slide.