Truck Driver Swallowed by Giant Sinkhole in Japan as Rescuers Work to Retrieve Vehicle

Mar. 15, 2025

The sinkhole in Yashio, Japan.Photo:Kyodo via AP Images

Kyodo via AP Images

A large sinkhole near Tokyo has swallowed a truck with a man inside.

Just before 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 28, police responded to an emergency call that a sinkhole had opened up at an intersection in Yashio, Saitama, according to Japanese newspaperThe Mainichi. The sinkhole is roughly 33-feet wide and 20-feet deep, according toCBS News.

Rescue efforts have been trying to reach the man believed to be the truck’s driver,NBC Newsreported. He was “initially conscious and capable of talking,“according toThe Mainichi, and has been trapped in the driver’s seat underneath sand and mud. The rescue has thus far involved heavy machinery — including a large crane, CBS News reported — and two rescuers have sustained minor injuries after sediment fell on them.

After 1 p.m. local time, the rescue team was forced to halt their efforts as the sinkhole grew unstable, according to CBS News.

According toThe Mainichi, sediment surrounding the heavily corroded pipe, which runs roughly 10 meters (roughly 33 feet) underground, is believed to have flowed into it and created a hollow crater under the road, which collapsed with the weight of passing vehicles.

The sinkhole in Yashio, Japan.STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty

STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty

Ono said the main focus is rescuing the driver, according to NBC News,

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In the last decade, a number of sinkholes have opened up in Japanese cities. An underground water pipe in Hiroshima caused a sinkhole when it burst in September 2024, and in 2016, Fukuoka saw a massive sinkhole — about 98-feet wide and 50-feet deep, according to NBC — which swallowed five road lanes.

source: people.com