KOTA KINABALU, Jan 20 — A part of the road outside Sabah’s famed Kinabalu National Park has collapsed after nearly a week of unrelenting rain.

Eye witnesses claimed the road, just outside and in front of the country’s first World Heritage Site, started showing signs of collapse on January 15, when the downpour began.

"The part which collapsed was a road reserve just in front of the park’s entrance, maybe about 50m away. It was already damaged since last week, so the authorities put up danger warnings and cordoned off part of the road,” Sabah Parks director Maklarin Lakim said.

He said the continuous rain in the area worsened the situation and the road started caving in even more starting around midnight last night and that he was shocked to see the damage this morning.

No casualties have been reported. The two-way road remains accessible.

Road concessionaire Lintasan Resources attributed the collapse to the continuous rain since the weekend, causing the embankment to give way. It classified the road damage as "very critical”.

Lintasan Resources also said in its report on the incident that the embankment failure is likely to get worse, predicting several more metres of the same road will sink.

Some 100m of the road, which connects Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan, was affected in the landslide.

For now, signboards and barricades have been put up to warn motorists of the danger.

Malay Mail is trying to contact authorities for further action to be taken.