1.2 million in Japan told to use less water to help sinkhole rescue

by Harumi OZAWA

Hopes faded for a 74-year-old man in Japan whose truck was swallowed by a sinkhole as a difficult rescue operation entered its third night Thursday, with the chasm widening and locals urged to limit water use to aid efforts.

Japanese authorities have asked 1.2 million people to cut back on showers and laundry to prevent leaking sewage from aggravating an operation to rescue the truck driver, who rescuers have not communicated with since Tuesday afternoon.

The hole suddenly opened up at an intersection in the city of Yashio, about a 30-minute drive north of Tokyo, during the morning rush hour on Tuesday, swallowing the lorry.

The initial sinkhole, estimated at about 10 meters wide and six meters deep (33 feet by 20 feet), has since merged with another.

"At around 2:30 am (on Thursday), the two holes became one, and with risk of another landslide or collapse of roads, we've been unable to use heavy machinery," a fire department official told AFP.

Rescue efforts have been severely hampered by unstable ground around the hole. Water has also been seeping in.

The sinkhole and its vicinity remained cordoned off Thursday evening, surrounded by an array of factories that make the area something of an industrial hub.

"I always use that intersection to commute, which makes me think I could've been there when it happened," Hiromasa Saito, a worker at a nearby metal processing factory, told AFP.

"We're being told by the company to cut back on water, so we're washing our hands less," the 50-year-old added.

- 'Scared to go nearby' -

Authorities say the initial cavity could be the result of sewage pipes underneath being corroded and gaping open.

The punctured pipes "potentially allowed the surrounding soil to flow in and the space under the ground to hollow out", Daisuke Tsutsui, a Saitama prefectural official, told AFP.

"When the hollow got big enough, the asphalt on it could no longer withstand the weight of its own and cars passing by, which possibly led to the hole emerging," Tsutsui said.

For now, the Saitama region is asking its 1.2 million residents to refrain from non-essential use of water such as taking a bath or doing laundry.

"Using toilets is difficult to refrain from, but we are asking to use less water as much as possible," an official told AFP.

No contact has been had with the 74-year-old truck driver since around 1:00 pm (0400 GMT) Tuesday and rescuers have been working around the clock to reach him.

But the rescue work is "facing difficulties", the Saitama government said in a statement, cautioning that it will "likely take time to restore" the sewage system.

The search operation for the man continued but as of Thursday afternoon, he was "nowhere in sight as the hole deepened", a local fire department official was quoted by local media as saying.

"It feels rather abnormal that the search is taking this long. I wonder if he could've been saved much sooner," Takuya Koroku, a worker at a nearby precision parts factory, told AFP.

"I'm scared to go nearby," the 51-year-old added.

Some sewage water in the area was collected and released to a nearby river on Wednesday.

© Agence France-Presse