Efforts to rescue a 74-year-old truck driver from a sinkhole in the Japanese city of Yashio were suspended again on Thursday after cave-ins made the area unstable.
The sinkhole, which opened on 28 January in Saitama prefecture, swallowed the 1,800kg vehicle, trapping the truck driver. Rescuers initially heard the driver responding, but lost contact soon after.
On Thursday, authorities said further cave-ins at the sinkhole had made the area highly unstable. The Straits Times reported that efforts to retrieve the driver were suspended soon after.
The initial collapse occurred at 9.50am local time on 28 January, creating a chasm 5m wide and 10m deep, according to The Japan Times. Another sinkhole appeared in Yashio on Thursday after wastewater from a ruptured sewage pipe flooded the first one. This sparked further collapses, taking down a utility pole and a restaurant signboard.
The original sinkhole was likely caused by a burst sewer pipe under the road.
The two sinkholes eventually merged, creating a crater 20m wide and complicating the rescue operation.
The expanded sinkhole also contains a gas pipeline, raising concerns about a potential leak and forcing the evacuation of nearly 200 households in the area.
It was reported on Thursday that authorities had asked 1.2 million people across 12 cities and towns in the eastern part of Saitama prefecture to limit showers and laundry use in an effort to ease 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.”
