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Sinkhole in Japan That Swallowed a Truck Just Keeps Getting Bigger
The chasm has prompted authorities to evacuate hundreds of people in the surrounding area, while emergency responders continue to look for the trapped driver. The post Sinkhole in Japan That Swallowed a Truck Just Keeps Getting Bigger appeared first on The Drive.
Rescuers are now four days into their efforts to reach the elderly driver of a truck that was swallowed by a sinkhole that appeared beneath an intersection in Saitama prefecture, roughly 20 miles north of Tokyo. Rescuers lost contact with the 74-year-old driver of the delivery vehicle shortly after the incident, and have been struggling to reach him as the sinkhole’s expansion has foiled attempts to get excavation equipment close enough to operate, CNN reports.
Local officials say rusted-out sewer pipes are to blame. Over time, the escaping sewage scoured out the soil around the pipes, opening up a void beneath the surface infrastructure. What started as a hole just large enough to swallow the three-ton truck (think Toyota Dyna) on Tuesday has expanded enough to prompt local authorities to evacuate hundreds of people from nearby homes. More than a million surrounding residents are being asked to eliminate all non-essential water use to help reduce discharge through the corroded pipeline while rescuers work to reach the trapped driver. Per the Associated Press, rescuers were able to communicate with the driver immediately after the cave-in, but he has been non-responsive since Tuesday.
The above-left image shows the initial sinkhole in the intersection, along with the second hole that emerged soon after. The two have since merged to form a single cave-in roughly 130 feet across at its widest point. Rescuers say they’re going to take advantage of the expanded footprint to build a ramp that should allow them to reach the buried truck.
Local officials say that while sinkholes don’t occur naturally in Japan, neglect of decades-old infrastructure buried beneath roadways will inevitably lead to more incidents. The collapsed pipe reportedly passed its most recent visual inspection, which is required every five years. Officials have called for emergency inspections of wastewater pipes serving nearly 40 million residents across seven prefectures.
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The post Sinkhole in Japan That Swallowed a Truck Just Keeps Getting Bigger appeared first on The Drive.
