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Rescuers race to pull out truck driver stuck in Japan sinkhole for days

Rescue workers in Japan are trying to pull out a truck driver from a sinkhole that appeared on Tuesday and has since widened.

The sinkhole appeared in Yashio city in Saitama prefecture, near the capital Tokyo, swallowing a truck.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by road collapses, and officials have ordered scores of households in the area to evacuate their homes.

The 74-year-old driver was last heard responding to rescuers on Tuesday afternoon, according to local media.

While emergency crews managed to remove the truck bed from the pool-sized sinkhole, the driver’s cabin remains buried under soil and debris.

The hole measuring about 10m (33ft) wide and 5m deep first appeared on Tuesday morning at a road junction.

It is believed to have been caused by an underground sewage pipe rupturing.

Officials said that as waste water from the damaged pipe flooded the hole, it caused a second sinkhole to appear on Thursday.

Video footage showed a utility pole and a restaurant signboard falling in that collapse.

The road then collapsed further, merging the two sinkholes together to become a 20m-wide crater, further complicating the rescue operation.

The massive sinkhole also contains a gas pipeline, prompting fears of a potential leak. Officials have issued evacuation orders for 200 households in the surrounding area.

They have also urged residents in and around the city to use less water.

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