74-Year-Old Trucker Trapped in Japanese Sinkhole for Almost a Week

yashio, japan - A 74-year-old trucker remains trapped in a growing sinkhole in Yashio, Japan, with communication cut off since January 28th.

Trapped in Sinkhole

A 74-year-old Japanese trucker has been stuck in a sinkhole in Yashio, Greater Tokyo, for nearly a week. The sinkhole, now over forty meters wide, poses a significant risk of further collapse. The man is believed to be trapped at a depth of fifteen meters, with large chunks of asphalt swallowed by the hole.

Concerns linger over the trucker's survival as all communication ceased since noon on January 28th. Initial reports indicated he was able to speak with rescuers shortly after the incident but failed to respond later that day when called by firefighters.

Rescue teams managed to retrieve the truck's cargo bed from the sinkhole, but the cabin, where the driver is presumed to be, remains buried under debris.

The sinkhole has caused significant asphalt damage, necessitating a thirty-meter ramp for rescuers to approach the trapped trucker. Authorities urged 1.2 million residents to conserve water to prevent sewage leakage from hampering rescue efforts, with concerns also raised about a gas line affecting operations. Two hundred households nearby were evacuated as a precaution.

The sinkhole's origin likely stems from an underground pipe rupture, with a second sinkhole forming on Thursday due to sewage overflow, eventually merging into one large cavity.

Japanese media reported approximately 2600 sinkholes caused by leaking sewer pipes in 2022, most of them shallow, only fifty centimeters deep or less.