BEIJING, Aug 8 (Reuters) - An autonomous vehicle

operated by Baidu's ( BIDU ) Apollo Go robotaxi service fell

into a deep construction pit while carrying a passenger in

southwestern China, according to local media reports.

The incident occurred on Wednesday in Chongqing, according

to media outlets including the Southern Metropolis Daily and

Huashang Newspaper. The female passenger was uninjured and was

rescued by local residents using a ladder, the reports said.

Videos circulating on Chinese social media showed a white

vehicle bearing a Baidu Apollo logo at the bottom of what

appeared to be a construction trench. A local shop owner told

Huashang Newspaper that the construction site had barriers and

warning signs, though it remained unclear how the vehicle

bypassed these safety measures.

Reuters has been able to verify the location of the

social media videos, but has no information on how the car got

there.

Baidu ( BIDU ) did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for

comment on Friday.

The incident sparked widespread discussion on Chinese social

media over the safety of robotaxis.

Baidu ( BIDU ) operates one of China's largest autonomous vehicle

fleets and has been conducting commercial robotaxi operations in

multiple cities including Wuhan, Beijing, and Chongqing.

The company has also recently pushed to expand its robotaxi

service to global markets, signing partnerships with U.S.

ride-hailing platforms Uber Technologies ( UBER ) and Lyft ( LYFT )

.

In May, Chinese rival Pony.ai came under scrutiny

after videos of one of its cars on fire on a road in Beijing

circulated on social media. The company later said that the car

caught fire while being handled by service staff after a system

malfunction and that no passengers were on board.

Last year, an incident in San Francisco involving a crowd

setting fire to an autonomous Waymo robotaxi which had driven

into streets crowded with revellers sparked a debate about the

ability of robotic cars to make judgments.