Man faces third night stuck in Japanese sinkhole as rescue efforts continue
The operation to rescue an elderly man believed to be stuck in the cabin of his truck, due to a sinkhole north-west of Tokyo, has entered the third night.
Japanese authorities are working to free the 75-year-old after his flat-bed truck fell into a sinkhole, which had suddenly appeared on Tuesday morning in Yashio City.
Initially 10 meters wide and five-meters deep, the sinkhole has now doubled in size.
A large sinkhole swallowed a truck and a man at an intersection in Yashio. (Kyodo/via Reuters)
The man was conscious and communicating with rescue workers earlier but has not responded since Tuesday afternoon, according to Yashio fire department official Yoshifumi Hashiguchi.
Residents near the hole have taken shelter at a local school, and there were fears on Thursday about flooding and leaking sewage water.
What caused the sinkhole?
Saitama prefectural sewer system official Jun Uehara said corrosion, possibly because of strong acid constantly passing through the system, might have created a hole in the pipe, causing soil above to fall in and create a large hollow space between it and the road.
No problem was found with the pipe during its last visual inspection, which is required every five years.
The sewage water leaking out of the damaged pipe may also cause flooding.
Why is the rescue taking so long?
The unsteady ground, with a hollow space below it, is hampering the rescue.
Rescue operations at a sinkhole at an intersection in Yashio City in Japan. (Kyodo/via Reuters)
Television footage captured the asphalt road cracking and collapsing into the sinkhole, knocking down billboards.
Authorities have tried to save the driver by lifting his truck with cranes, but they could only recover the loading platform, leaving behind the cabin where the driver is believed to be trapped.
Officials have also tried without success to remove sediment and dig out the driver.
They also flew a drone into the hole to see if rescue workers can climb down, but no progress has been made.
What’s next?
When the driver is taken out, experts will enter the sinkhole and inspect the sewage system.
The incident has sparked a renewed debate about Japan’s aging infrastructure.
The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has ordered a nationwide inspection of sewer systems.
-AP/ABC
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