Japan: Rescuers Struggle To Save Trapped Truck Driver In Sinkhole

Rescue workers in Japan are struggling to pull out a truck driver from a sinkhole that appeared on Tuesday and has since widened.

The sinkhole appeared in Yashio city in Saitama prefecture, near the capital Tokyo, swallowing a truck.

Rescue efforts have been delayed
by road collapses, and officials have ordered scores of households in the area to evacuate their homes.

The 74-year-old driver was last heard responding to rescuers on Tuesday afternoon, according to local media.

While emergency crews managed to remove the truck bed from the pool-sized sinkhole, the driver’s cabin remains buried under soil and debris.

The hole measuring about 10m (33ft) wide and 5m deep first appeared on Tuesday morning at a road junction.

It is believed to have been caused by an underground sewage pipe rupturing.

Officials said that as waste water from the damaged pipe flooded the hole, it caused a second sinkhole to appear on Thursday.

The road then collapsed further, merging the two sinkholes together to become a 20m-wide crater, further complicating the rescue operation.

The massive sinkhole also contains a gas pipeline, prompting fears of a potential leak. Officials have issued evacuation orders for 200 households in the surrounding area.

Sinkholes are increasingly common in Japanese cities, as many have ageing sewage pipeline infrastructure.

In 2016, a giant sinkhole in Fukuoka swallowed a five-lane street in Fukuoka, disrupting power, water and transport.

No serious injuries were reported.
Last August, a search for a woman who disappeared into a pavement sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre was called off after a week.

Authorities deemed it “too risky” to continue deploying divers into the underground sewer network, which had strong currents and hard debris.

BBC/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma