Tokyo, 30 January, /AJMEDIA/
A sinkhole at an intersection in Saitama Prefecture that swallowed a truck collapsed further Thursday and merged with a second opening that had formed nearby, as rescue efforts continued into a third day to save the driver.
The sinkhole in Yashio now measures roughly 20 meters in width after first appearing on Tuesday, with further cave-ins occurring. Local fire authorities are considering how to employ heavy machinery to remove earth and rubble accumulating there.
While the trapped 74-year-old man was initially able to speak, communication has been lost since Tuesday afternoon, with the driver’s seat of the truck buried in debris.
A sewer pipe running underground in the area was found damaged, leading the prefectural government to start discharging wastewater into the nearby Niigata River late Wednesday as an emergency step to reduce the water flowing into the sinkhole.
The wastewater is treated with chlorine to prevent the contamination of the river. The duration of the operation is undetermined, authorities said.
The discharging of wastewater is unusual, having been carried out on occasions such as the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan.
Some 1.2 million residents in a total of 12 cities and towns in the prefecture have been urged to refrain from using the sewage system since Tuesday, according to the prefectural government.
“It is inconvenient as the road has been closed for three days,” an 83-year-old man who lives near the site said. “I also do not know how much I should refrain from using the sewage system.”
Local authorities have called on residents within a 200-meter radius of the area to evacuate, with around 20 people sheltering in a nearby middle school as of Thursday morning.