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Truck driver disappears into swimming pool-sized sinkhole in middle of road in …
Reuters
Rescuers in Japan are working to pull a truck driver to safety after his vehicle fell into a large sinkhole.
The swimming pool-sized sinkhole in Yashio City, Saitama prefecture, first opened on Tuesday (28 January) on a road, swallowing a truck.
A 74-year-old man who was driving was last heard in communication with rescuers on Tuesday afternoon, but efforts to rescue him have been hampered by the road collapsing further.
The sinkhole, which has continued to grow, measured 10 metres (33ft) wide and five metres deep and is thought to have been caused by an underground sewage pipe that ruptured.
Wastewater from the pipe caused the sinkhole to become flooded and a second sinkhole to open up on Thursday. Local residents in 200 homes have been ordered to evacuate.
Emergency services were able to remove the truck from the sinkhole, but the driver’s cabin remains inside, lodged in soil and debris. Communication with the driver has since been lost.
A clip on social media appeared to show a large piece of signage falling into a sinkhole as rescuers worked to remove debris from the original one.
Reports suggest the two sinkholes have merged, creating a 20-metre-wide crater.
Officials have urged residents in and around the city to use less water in an effort to stop the sinkhole from getting any larger.
In 2013, an American man disappeared without a trace after a sinkhole opened up beneath his bedroom in Florida. Meanwhile, a huge 40-ft sinkhole that opened up in Sunderland revealed a hidden beach.
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