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YASHIO, Saitama Prefecture—An object believed to be a missing driver was detected in a truck cabin stuck in a ruptured sewage pipe that caused a sinkhole here, but it may take three months to reach him.

Saitama Governor Motohiro Ono on Feb. 11 announced the possible sighting of the trucker and explained the prefectural government’s rescue plan.

The trucker in his 70s has been trapped underground since Jan. 28, when his vehicle plunged into the newly formed sinkhole at an intersection in Yashio.

Sewage water in the pipe, about 10 meters deep, continues to swiftly flow around the cabin and high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide are believed to be present, making the rescue operation difficult.

Ono said workers will build a large-scale bypass system upstream of the cabin to allow the water in the pipe to flow away from the driver’s seat.

He also said they will use excavators and other heavy machinery at ground level to dig a hole to the cabin. The cabin and the driver would then be lifted to the surface through the hole.

The rescue work will “take about three months, but it is the fastest way to rescue,” Ono said.

The truck cabin was found earlier by a drone inside the sewage pipe about 30 meters downstream from the sinkhole.

Experts, including a forensic pathologist, determined that an object in the cabin is likely the missing truck driver.

The prefecture at noon on Feb. 12 lifted its request to 1.2 million residents in 12 cities and towns in eastern parts of the prefecture to refrain from using the sewage system.

The request was made on the first day of the accident to reduce the flow of water into the ruptured sewage pipe.

Prefectural government officials said sewage water levels at the sinkhole had been reduced sufficiently by pumping up water upstream and releasing it into a river.

They also said construction of a bypass has diverted some of the sewage away from the accident site.

These measures “are estimated to have the same effect as the water usage restrictions,” Ono said.

The prefecture on Feb. 11 said the Disaster Relief Law would be applied to the sinkhole accident. The central government and the prefecture will cover all the costs that the city of Yashio has paid, including expenses to set up an evacuation center.

(This article was written by Shun Nakamura and Sokichi Kuroda.)

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