Workers use heavy equipment operating from a ramp on Feb. 1 in a frantic effort to rescue a truck driver trapped in a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, since Jan. 28. (Video footage by Masashi Nishimura)

Photo/Illutration Work continues Feb. 1 at the site of a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, where a truck driver is trapped. (Shun Tsunekawa)

YASHIO, Saitama Prefecture--Rescue workers completed building a ramp in a desperate attempt to reach a truck driver trapped for days inside a sinkhole here.

Saitama Governor Motohiro Ono visited the site on Feb. 1.

The ramp will allow heavy machinery onto the scene to winch the truck with its driver to the surface.

Meeting with reporters at the scene, Ono said, “I have been told that debris will be removed to enable the man to be rescued as soon as possible while avoiding secondary damage.”

Ono also said he hoped it would give nearby residents some relief.

Depending on the pace of the work, Ono said the prefectural government might be able to signal when it will lift its request to residents to refrain from using the sewage system.

Work to build a ramp four meters wide and 20 meters across began on Jan. 30 to prevent further debris and soil widening the void, which is around 10 meters deep.

The sinkhole developed on the morning of Jan. 28 as a 2-ton truck driven by a man in his 70s was passing.

In addition to digging, materials to solidify the ramp were mixed into the dirt. An embankment was built on the ramp to allow heavy equipment to work in the sinkhole.

Saitama prefectural government officials said heavy equipment would be used to remove debris, while firefighters will enter the sinkhole to dig by hand to reach the truck where the driver is trapped.

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