Emergency workers are struggling to save a truck driver who swallowed the sinkholes in the city more than two days ago, north of Tokyo.
The 74-year-old man stopped near the intersection in Saitama prefecture, when the kindergarten suddenly opened under the road, swallowing it with a truck, according to a witness interviewing local media.
The driver was alive immediately after the truck sank into the hole, responding to nearby rescuers, according to the NHK public emiterion. However, a few hours later, mud sliding inside the hole caused dirt and ruins to fall on the vehicle, burning it. The man did not respond to subsequent attempts to make contact.
The efforts in the rescue are complicated by the fragility of the earth around the hole. The second hole that appeared near Tuesday merged with the first early Thursday, forming a larger hole. The collapsed area now extends about 65 feet in diameter.
The fire department official said on Thursday that the hole had deepened and that the front of the truck, where it was believed that the driver was captured, was no longer visible. “The situation is extremely dangerous and we cannot send many rescuers,” he said. “We’ll try to save him as soon as possible.”
Firefighters are considering the use of heavy cleaning machines to clean dirt and debris to access the captured driver. On Wednesday, a large crane managed to lift some of the truck truck on the surface, but the driver was not found in that part of the vehicle.
Local authorities have announced that the collapse has launched a sewer burst below the road transporting wastewater to a nearby purification plant. Damage to the pipeline has encouraged the prefecture to issue a Directive for 1.2 million inhabitants in the area to refrain from using water.
Routin examinations of the sewer system below the road, implemented every five years, did not indicate a direct need for repairs, according to the Saitami official. In the latest inspection, conducted in the fiscal year of 2021, some corrosion was discovered, but this was not considered an emergency problem, he said.
In response to the incident, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said he called to an emergency inspection of similar infrastructure, especially those associated with large wastewater treatment plants.
