Sinkhole widens as rescuers try to save truck driver

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Sinkhole widens as rescuers try to save truck driver

Rescue workers in Japan are trying to pull out a truck driver from a sinkhole that appeared on Tuesday and has since widened.

The sinkhole appeared in Yashio city in Saitama prefecture, near the capital Tokyo, swallowing a truck.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by road collapses, and officials have ordered scores of households in the area to evacuate their homes.

The 74-year-old driver was last heard responding to rescuers on Tuesday afternoon, according to local media.

While emergency crews managed to remove the truck bed from the pool-sized sinkhole, the driver’s cabin remains buried under soil and debris.

The hole measuring about 10m (33ft) wide and 5m deep first appeared on Tuesday morning at a road junction.

It is believed to have been caused by an underground sewage pipe rupturing.

Officials said that as waste water from the damaged pipe flooded the hole, it caused a second sinkhole to appear on Thursday.

Video footage showed a lamp post and a restaurant signboard falling in that collapse.

The road then collapsed further, merging the two sinkholes together to become a 20m-wide crater, further complicating the rescue operation.

The massive sinkhole also contains a gas pipeline, prompting fears of a potential leak. Officials have issued evacuation orders for 200 households in the surrounding area.

They have also urged residents in and around the city to use less water.

Sinkholes are increasingly common in Japanese cities, as many have ageing sewage pipeline infrastructure.

In 2016, a giant sinkhole in Fukuoka swallowed a five-lane street in Fukuoka, disrupting power, water and transport. No serious injuries were reported.

Last August, a search for a woman who disappeared into a pavement sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre was called off after a week. Authorities deemed it “too risky” to continue deploying divers into the underground sewer network, which had strong currents and hard debris.

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