In the middle of the street: Mysterious hole continues to grow rapidly - man (74) missing for days
Yashio (Japan) - On Tuesday morning (local time), the earth suddenly opened up in the middle of a crossroads in Japan : a road in the city of Yashio, not far from Tokyo, burst open and swallowed up a truck and its driver (74). The man is still missing. Meanwhile, the hole in the ground continues to grow - it is now four times as big as it was just a few days ago.
On Tuesday, the hole in the road measured around ten meters in diameter and was five meters deep. The three-ton truck was completely swallowed up by the earth, as reported by the AP news agency, among others.
But three days later, the hole had already grown to almost 40 meters, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday.
Despite extensive attempts, it has not yet been possible to rescue the 74-year-old truck driver from the depths. It has not been possible to communicate with him since Tuesday afternoon and the driver's cab is covered in rubble. A kind of ramp is now being built to finally reach and rescue the man.
"It's an extremely dangerous situation," local fire chief Tetsuji Sato told the press on Thursday. "We are planning to build a slope from a safer place so that we can send heavy equipment."
Groundwater would therefore continue to seep into the hole, causing it to "continue to give way". Authorities in Yashio believe that corroded sewage pipes could be the reason for the sudden collapse of the road.
This is how "small" the hole in the ground in Yashio was just a few days ago
1.2 million residents living near boreholes to reduce their water consumption
The hole is getting bigger and bigger, not only in width but also in depth, and now measures around ten meters. The authorities hope to be able to complete the auxiliary ramp on Friday, but it is feared that the work could take days.
The buried man's chances of survival are diminishing rapidly with every passing hour. Work on the hole is repeatedly hindered because heavy chunks of asphalt fall into it, endangering and delaying the emergency services. The sensitive static situation also makes it almost impossible to bring heavy machinery and vehicles close to the hole.
The approximately 1.2 million residents in the wider area have been asked to reduce their water consumption to a minimum so that no more liquid gets into the ground through the presumably damaged or broken pipes. This could further accelerate the breaking up of the ground.