An underground tunnel which is under construction collapsed when soil sank at the construction site at the four-corner traffic light intersection in Jalan Imbi in Kuala Lumpur.

A Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson at the scene of the incident said a 19-metre stretch of the route along Jalan Imbi sank in the incident at 10.30am, Bernama reported.

Fortunately, he said, no loss of life was reported.

“A preliminary report found it could have been caused by a burst Syabas main pipe but investigation is still going on,” the newswire quoted him as saying.

In a follow-up to the incident, the KL Monorail Service from Hang Tuah Station was stopped due to the underground soil collapse near the monorail pillar at the intersection, it reported.

The incident sparked a flurry of memes, incuding some which featured popular animation characters Godzilla and Transformers.

Another meme (left) showed Fire and Rescue staff placing adhesive tape onto the cracks with the caption: "Cracked road, we'll just tape it back together using Cellotape."

Taking offence, the department took to its official Facebook page to explain that it is a method used to monitor and measure ground movement.

"One of the reasons our officers use tape is to check on ground movements and this is not to be laughed at or made fun of!

"If you don't know, then don't pretend to know," the irate post reads.