On Tuesday morning, a sinkhole measuring 32 feet wide and 16 feet deep emerged at a busy intersection in Yashio, Japan, engulfing a truck and its driver. The incident occurred around 10 a.m. local time at a commercial area less than a mile from Yashio City Hall.
Saitama Prefecture Governor Motohiro Ono attributed the collapse to a suspected crack in the Nakagawa River Basin sewer pipe. Emergency services responded with at least 12 fire trucks at the scene, while rescue teams pumped oxygen into the cavity to assist the trapped driver.
The driver remained conscious and communicated with police initially, but contact was later lost. Rescue efforts were complicated by sand and mud filling the driver’s compartment, with the operation extending beyond eight hours according to Nippon TV.
The incident prompted social media discussions about infrastructure safety. One user named “kaishi” noted on X that historical maps showed the site was previously a waterway that had been covered and converted into a road.
This event follows other notable sinkhole incidents in Japan. In September, Hiroshima experienced a sinkhole caused by a burst water pipe, while in 2016, Fukuoka saw a 98-foot-wide crater that was notably repaired within days.
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