THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 6, 2025 at 14:25 JST
SAITAMA—A drone sent into a sewage pipe below a sinkhole at an intersection in Yashio city detected what appears to be a truck cabin, but the driver was not found.
The object is about 3 meters tall and located about 100 to 200 meters downstream from the site where the road caved in on Jan. 28, Saitama Governor Motohiro Ono said Feb. 5.
It was half-submerged in flowing sewage water inside the 4.75-meter-diameter pipe, which runs roughly 16 meters underground.
The pipe has been clogged with earth, sand and other sediments upstream of the presumed truck cabin, prefectural government officials said.
The officials suspect the sewage water being forced through a rupture on the upper portion of the pipe is filling up the sinkhole.
Ono said he has requested Defense Minister Gen Nakatani to consider what the Self-Defense Forces can do in the rescue effort.
“There are many challenges to overcome at the site, such as the fast water flow, presumed sediments and hydrogen sulfide, which has maintained a constant level of concentration,” the governor said.
The prefectural government has begun studying new methods to rescue the truck driver in cooperation with firefighters and SDF members.
It also plans to lower the water level inside the pipe by drawing sewage water from manholes upstream of the cave-in.
A second ramp leading to the sinkhole was completed on Feb. 5.
The prefectural government plans to dismantle an underground concrete pipe that could fall from the upper part of the sinkhole before removing the debris.
(This article was written by Shun Nakamura and Sokichi Kuroda.)
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