News in Pictures / Rescuers Continue to Search for Driver in Enlarged Sinkhole in Saitama Pref.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:29 JST, February 4, 2025

Rescue operations were still underway on Monday for a driver whose truck fell into a sinkhole at an intersection in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 28.

The rescuers, who have not been able to get close to where the driver is thought to be, have been building a slope to allow heavy machinery to operate inside the hole. On Monday, they were lengthening the slope as they tried to detour around water that was found in the hole.

The water inside the hole is suspected to be sewage that has flowed out of a nearby sewer pipe.

A sinkhole first appeared around 9:50 a.m. on Jan. 28. The hole, about 10 meters in diameter and 10 meters deep, is near the middle of the intersection, and a truck that was passing through fell into it.

The driver, in his 70s, was able to talk to rescuers during the first several hours, but a mudslide occurred near the cab of the truck, keeping rescuers at bay.

Households near the road collapse were advised to evacuate. The prefectural government has also called on more than a million residents in the prefecture to refrain from washing clothes and taking baths to reduce domestic wastewater flowing into the sewer pipe.

On Wednesday, the chassis of the truck was lifted out by a crane, but the driver’s cab remained in the hole. The same day, a new sinkhole occurred near the first hole.

The land between the two sinkholes collapsed on Thursday, creating one large hole.

2nd Slope Being Made in Saitama Sinkhole Rescue Effort; Households, Businesses Asked to Cut Back on Water Use