Crews Enter Saitama Pref. Sewer Pipe for First Time since Jan. Sinkhole Accident

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:07 JST, May 1, 2025

Police and firefighters wearing oxygen tanks on Thursday entered the sewer pipe where a truck driver is believed to have become trapped for the first time since the January accident in which the man’s vehicle fell into a sinkhole in a prefectural road in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture.

They investigated the condition inside, hoping to figure out a way to find and bring back the 74-year-old driver.

At around 4:40 a.m., when wastewater levels were low, 20 personnel from the Saitama prefectural police, the Soka Yashio Koiki Fire Department, the Tokyo Fire Department and other agencies entered the 4.75-meter-diameter pipe through a hole dug in the ground and proceeded toward the area where the truck’s cab was located.

The personnel were divided into three groups, each of which worked inside the pipe for about 20 minutes at a time. Over the course of about two hours in total, they are believed to have checked conditions such as the state of the cab, hydrogen sulfide concentration levels and the safety of the search route.