Apparent cab of truck found in sinkhole site near Tokyo

But the 74-year-old male driver of the truck has not been discovered, Saitama prefectural government officials said Wednesday ( February 6).

A drone deployed to investigate the inside of the sewer pipe found a deformed white metal mass that could be the truck cab more than 100 metres downstream from the cave-in site in the city of Yashio, the officials said.

In the incident that occurred around 9.50am on January 28, part of an intersection in the city collapsed, causing the truck to fall.

The loading platform of the truck has already been recovered. "I think we have taken a step forward," Saitama Governor Motohiro Ono told reporters Wednesday, referring to the discovery of the apparent truck cab."Although the situation is extremely difficult, we hope a miracle will happen," he added.

A slope has been constructed to take heavy machinery into the sinkhole for the removal of earth and debris. But the water that is flowing in has been preventing work to find and rescue the truck driver.

The prefectural government is urging nearby residents to evacuate due to the risk of further ground collapse from the ongoing work.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

Photo by Reuters