Pounds near Tokyo Merge, the man still trapped on the 3rd day

A chasm at an intersection near Tokyo which swallowed a truck collapsed on Thursday and merged with a second opening which had formed nearby, while the rescue efforts continued in a third day to save the driver.

The chasm in Yashio, Saitama prefecture, is now about 20 meters wide after appearing for the first time on Tuesday, with other caves. Local fire authorities envisage how to use heavy machines to eliminate the earth and the rubble accumulating there.

While the 74-year-old trapped man was initially able to speak, communication has been lost since Tuesday afternoon, the driver’s seat of the buried truck in debris.

A drain hose going underground in the region was found damaged, leading the prefectural government to start unloading wastewater in the Niigata river neighboring Wednesday evening as an emergency stage to reduce the water flowing in the abyss .

Wastewater is treated with chlorine to prevent contamination of the river. The duration of the operation is indefinite, the authorities said.

The wastewater discharge is unusual, having been carried out on occasions such as the consequences of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami which devastated northeast Japan.

According to the prefectural government, some 1.2 million residents in a total of 12 cities and villages in the prefecture have been invited to refrain from using the sewer system since Tuesday.

“It is annoying because the road has been closed for three days,” said an 83 -year -old man who lives near the site. “Nor do I know how much I should refrain from using the sewer system.”

Local authorities called residents within a radius of 200 meters from the region to evacuate, with around twenty people who are refining themselves in a neighboring college on Thursday morning.

Associated coverage:

Water in the abyss near Tokyo hinders efforts to save man

Large truck to swallow a truck near Tokyo, a trapped man