A sinkhole at an intersection in Japan has grown to over 40 meters wide. Authorities have ordered hundreds of residents near Tokyo as the sinkhole continues to grow. When the sinkhole first opened in late January it swallowed a three-ton truck and its driver, a 74 year old man who has not been named.
The sinkhole appeared in Yashio City, just northeast of Tokyo, in the morning when a three ton truck fell into it. At first, the sinkhole was roughly 33 feet wide and the pit expanded to four times its size three days after its opening.
The man was conscious and communicating with authorities when he first became trapped in the morning. However, he stopped responding by the afternoon and has not responded since. Authorities are cautious that the hole may be filling up with river water from a broken underground pipe.
Sewer system official Jun Uehara said corrosion from acid in the sewer system may have been the cause of the sinkhole. The unstable ground around the sinkhole slowed the rescue as officials were not sure a rescue would be safe.
Despite attempts to contact the driver via drones and cranes lifting part of the truck, rescuers have not been able to get a response from the driver.
“It feels rather abnormal that the search is taking this long, I wonder if he could have been saved much sooner. I’m scared to go near it,” 51-year-old factory worker Takuya Koroku said.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan has ordered emergency inspections of sewer systems similar to the one that collapsed. Much of Japan’s public infrastructure was built between the 1960s and 1970s. During which much of Tokyo was destroyed by American bombing raids. This means these systems are old and decaying so more issues like this may persist if action isn’t taken.
“We will have such events more in the future because the decay of underground pipes is ongoing little by little, and many pipes are located below roads,” Takashi Oguchi, a geographer from the University of Tokyo said.
More sinkholes opened up in the area in the days following in part to the vibrations of large machinery being used in an effort to rescue. Five families living in the vicinity of the sinkhole have been asked to evacuate the area immediately by city officials.
By February 1st, Japanese rescuers completed building a 30 meter ramp into the sinkhole in an effort to rescue the man. And by the 6th the cabin of the truck was uncovered but still no sign of the driver.
Concerns about the length of the rescue process were raised as the situation continued to be dragged on due to unstable ground conditions around the sinkhole. While the rescue of the trapped man is important, safety of all involved in the rescue still remains a top priority to officials.
“If we are sure that this guy is even still alive, then obviously we should save him as soon as possible. But I think it’s pretty unlikely that he’s alive if he hasn’t responded in days,” NHS senior Grayson Renkert said.
The Japanese government’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has ordered a nationwide inspection of sewer systems. to enhance resilience against future natural disasters.
“With the infrastructure that this area in Japan has, I don’t think it’s much of a surprise that this happened, if anything it was lucky that only one person was involved in the sinkhole,” NHS senior Charlie Dunn said.
The situation continues to develop as the man as of early february has still not been rescued. Attempts to rescue the driver continue but are not successful yet as of 9 days after the truck fell into the sinkhole.
Comments