Japanese region asks 1.2 million people to use less water to help sinkhole rescue

This photo shows a general view of a collapsed road at a prefectural road intersection, in the city of Yashio, Saitama Prefecture on 30 January 2025 - (JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)

Efforts to rescue a 74-year-old driver continued on Thursday, days after a massive sinkhole in the Japanese city of Yashio swallowed up his truck.

Japanese authorities have asked 1.2 million people across 12 cities and towns in the eastern part of Saitama prefecture to limit showers and laundry use and thereby ease the pressure on the sewer system.

“Putting our first priority on saving the person’s life, we are asking residents to refrain from non-essential use of water such as taking a bath or doing laundry,” a Saitama prefecture official told AFP on Thursday.

“Using toilets is difficult to refrain from, but we are asking to use less water as much as possible.”

The massive sinkhole appeared in Yashio at around 10am local time on Tuesday, Saitama prefecture governor Motohiro Ono said. The crater measured about 32ft wide and 16ft deep.

“It is thought to have been caused by a crack in the Nakagawa River Basin sewer pipe,” Mr Ono said on Tuesday. “As a result of this collapse, a passing truck fell in.”

Efforts to save the 74-year-old driver have since been complicated by unstable ground, a second, larger sinkhole, and seeping water, local media reported. The second sinkhole in Yashio appeared on Thursday after wastewater from a ruptured sewage pipe flooded the original sinkhole.

This then caused further collapses, bringing down a utility pole and a restaurant signboard.

The driver was able to speak directly to rescuers until the afternoon on 28 January but rescue workers had to retreat after the area around the hole became unstable, according to a fire department official. Aerial TV footage showed a second sinkhole -- slightly bigger than the first, and just several metres away -- had opened up overnight, causing operations to be delayed (JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)

Eventually the two sinkholes merged, creating a 20m-wide crater, which has complicated the rescue of the 74-year-old truck driver.

Authorities have attempted to rescue the driver by using cranes to lift his truck, but they were only able to recover the loading platform, leaving the cabin – where the driver is believed to be trapped – behind.

Efforts to remove sediment and dig him out have so far been unsuccessful. Officials also deployed a drone into the hole to assess whether rescue workers could climb down, but no progress has been made.

Rescue operations continue for a truck driver after his vehicle was swallowed up by a sinkhole at a prefectural road intersection the day before, in the city of Yashio, Saitama Prefecture. The driver was able to speak directly to rescuers until the afternoon on 28 January but rescue workers had to retreat after the area around the hole became unstable, according to a fire department official (JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)

The expanded sinkhole also contains a gas pipeline, raising concerns about a potential leak, leading to evacuations of 200 households.

Rescue workers were pumping air into the hole to supply oxygen to the 74-year-old driver on Tuesday. The driver was initially conscious but by the evening of the same day became unresponsive, according to local media reports.

In the past decade, several sinkholes have appeared across Japan. In September 2024, a sinkhole in Hiroshima was caused by a burst underground water pipe.

In 2016, Fukuoka experienced a massive sinkhole, about 98ft wide and 50ft deep, that swallowed five road lanes.

Additional reporting by agencies