Rescuers were on Wednesday trying to save a Japanese truck driver stuck in a large sinkhole for more than 24 hours as local residents were evacuated over fears gas pipes could break.
Emergency workers in Yashio city outside Tokyo rushed to the scene on Tuesday morning after a road caved in and a lorry plunged into the hole that is around the width of two cars.
The driver was able to speak directly to rescuers until early Tuesday afternoon, but rescue workers had to retreat after the area around the hole became unstable, according to a fire department official.
Kyodo/via REUTERS
“Rescue operations have continued around the clock but we haven’t been able to contact the driver” since, another fire department spokesman told AFP Wednesday, adding that the driver was believed to be in his 70s.
Witnesses said the road sunk just before the truck passed, Japan Today reported, citing the police.
The spokesman said that another sinkhole has since opened up nearby, and residents within a 650-foot radius had been evacuated.
Aerial TV footage showed the second sinkhole — slightly bigger than the first, and just several yards away.
The main body of the truck was pulled from the first sinkhole at around 1 am, the spokesman said.
But the driver’s cabin is still inside the hole, estimated to be about 33 feet wide — roughly the size of a swimming pool — and 20 feet deep.
In 2016, a massive sinkhole appeared on a five-lane street in Hakata, Japan. That sinkhole caused blackouts and traffic delays but crews worked around the clock to fix the gaping hole in the busy street.
Last year, a sinkhole suddenly opened and swallowed an SUV in Seoul, South Korea, injuring the two occupants.