Tokyo (AP) – A truck that fell into a chasm that suddenly opened on a road near Tokyo drew national attention while the rescue attempts of the elderly driver drag. Residents near the hole were housed in a local school, and there were concerns Thursday concerning floods and wastewater. There has also been a renewed debate on the aging infrastructure of Japan.
What happened?
Just after the chasm appeared in Yashio City, just northeast of Tokyo on Tuesday morning, a 3-ton truck fell there. At the beginning, the chasm measuring about 10 meters (33 feet) wide and 5 meters (16 feet) deep, but it has since grown up twice this size.
And the driver?
A 74 -year -old man is trapped in the flat truck cabin. He was aware and communicated with rescuers earlier, but has not responded since Tuesday afternoon, according to Yashio’s fire department, Yoshifumi Hashiguchi.
What caused the abyss?
The saitama prefectural sewer system, Jun Uehara said that corrosion, perhaps due to strong acid, constantly passing through the system, could have created a hole in the pipe, which makes the ground fall Above and create a large hollow space between it and the road.
No problem was found with the pipe during its last visual inspection, which is necessary every five years. Wastewater fleeing from the damaged pipe can also cause floods.
Why does the rescue take so long?
The unstable terrain, with a hollow space below, hinders the rescue. TV images have captured the asphalt road by cracking and collapsing in the abyss, overthrowing the display panels. The authorities tried to save the driver by raising his truck with cranes, but they could only recover the loading platform, leaving the cabin where the driver would be trapped. Officials have also tried without success to withdraw the sediments and dig up the driver. They also stole a drone in the hole to see if the rescuers can go down, but no progress has been made.
And the neighbors?
Neighbors are invited to reduce the use of water. The parts of the road are closed. There is also uncertainty about the duration of operations.
According to the city, around 20 residents within a radius of 200 meters (656 feet) were absent in a local high school on Thursday, according to the city.
More than a million residents through the prefecture of Saitama, especially in the areas where wastewater go to the pipe, were invited to reduce the detergent and the bath to prevent it from overflowing in the chasm. Prefecture officials also started to divert the wastewater from an upstream pumping station and release it in a neighboring river after treatment, Uehara said.
What is the next step?
When the driver is withdrawn, experts go into the abyss and inspect the sewer system.
The Ministry of Lands, Infrastructures and Transport has ordered a national inspection of sewer systems. In one of the most subject to disasters in the world, the abyss has raised concerns about aging infrastructure.
Most of the main public infrastructure in Japan were built during rapid economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s. The wastewater pipe in Yashiro is about 40 years old.
