No sign of driver 8 days after truck fell into Japan sinkhole

SINGAPORE: Japanese authorities found an object resembling a driver's seat in a sewage pipe as rescue operations continued around a growing sinkhole in Yashio city, Japanese media reported on Wednesday (Feb 5).

There was, however, no sign of the 74-year-old truck driver who had been swallowed into the gaping hole along with his vehicle on Jan 28. The authorities lost communication with him later that day. 

The object was found on Wednesday - the eighth day of rescue operations - during a search of a sewage pipe downstream from the sinkhole using an underwater drone, reported The Japan News. 

A video by Fuji News Network stated that the object was found 100m to 200m from the initial location of the collapse.

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The search for the truck driver has proven to be difficult due to sewage flowing into the hole. 

To address the overflow, the Saitama prefecture has called on people living in the surrounding area to reduce washing and bathing.

According to Nippon TV, there is still no prospect of a full-scale search for the driver due to the risk of a concrete pipe collapsing. 

The authorities plan to remove the pipe and build a second ramp to access him, the report added. 

This follows a first ramp built last week which is being used by rescuers to send heavy equipment into the hole.

The search will only proceed after a safety check of the area by experts, the report added.

WHAT HAPPENED

The incident has captured national attention since the sinkhole suddenly appeared in Yashio, just northeast of Tokyo, during the morning rush hour on Jan 28.

The hole, which was initially estimated to be about 10m wide and 5m deep, has now expanded to 40m across, almost the length of an Olympic swimming pool, after it merged with another cave-in nearby. It has since been filled with sewage and debris. 

Emergency rescuers have strived in vain to reach the truck driver since the incident occurred.

According to media reports, Yashio fire department official Yoshifumi Hashiguchi said the man was last heard responding to rescuers on the afternoon of the incident. 

Contact was lost after the truck became further buried under soil and debris, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.

The authorities have tried to lift the truck with cranes, but they could only recover the loading platform, leaving behind the cabin where the driver is believed to be trapped. 

Officials have also tried without success to remove sediment and dig him out.

The operation has been aggravated by the inner walls of the hole - now around 15m deep, according to an earlier NHK report - continuing to erode, preventing rescue workers from staying inside it for long.

The country's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has ordered a nationwide inspection of sewer systems. 

Most of Japan’s main public infrastructure was built during the rapid economic growth of the 1960s and 1970s. The sewage pipe in Yashiro is about 40 years old.