Road Collapses in Yashio City, Saitama; One Truck Falls In

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

A Dump Truck Falls into a 10-Meter-Deep Hole After Road Collapse in Yashio City, Saitama – Rescue Efforts for Driver Continue Six Hours After Incident | TBS NEWS DIG

January 28, 2025
This morning, a section of a prefectural road at an intersection in Yashio City, Saitama Prefecture, collapsed, causing a dump truck to fall into a hole approximately 10 meters deep. Here is a live report from the scene.
About six hours have passed since the incident, but numerous fire vehicles remain at the site, and rescue operations to save the male driver continue.
According to the police and other authorities, the road collapse occurred at the "Chuo 1-Chome" intersection on the prefectural road in Midoricho, Yashio City, just before 10 a.m. The hole created by the collapse measures approximately 5 meters in diameter and 10 meters in depth.
The police report that the male driver is responding to rescuers' calls with a clear and audible voice.
Eyewitness Account of the Collapse
"When I saw the collapsed section, it seemed to be crumbling bit by bit, so I wondered if it might grow even larger. I'm also worried that something similar could happen in another area," said one witness.
Around noon, two firefighters conducting rescue operations inside the hole were struck by parts of the wall that fell. Both were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
According to Saitama Prefecture, a sewage pipe runs approximately 10 meters underground at the intersection. After the incident, the water level in the sewage pipe was found to have decreased. Authorities are carefully investigating the connection between the road collapse and the sewage system.

[Live] Road Collapses in Yashio City, Saitama; One Truck Falls In [LIVE/Aerial Footage] (January 28, 2025) ANN/TV Asahi

 

[thomas]

Just saw this on the news. Glad the driver got away with minor injuries!

 

[thomas]

Correction: the driver is still trapped inside the hole! The last time they could communicate with him was yesterday around 1 p.m. (it is now 10 a.m. JST).

 

[thomas]

Three days later, the driver hasn't been rescued yet. Any chances that the 74-year-old man survived are exceptionally slim. This is what the hole looks like now:

Two sinkholes are combined into one at the intersection in Yashio, Saitama​

The drama unfolding in Saitama is just the tip of the iceberg. Across Japan, the risk of underground infrastructure has deteriorated over several decades.

Despite increased inspection and repair efforts, road cave-in accidents totalled 2,625 nationwide in fiscal 2022. It shows that inspection and repair efforts are still not keeping up with the ageing of sewerage pipes. Big cities -- where sewerage systems were established earlier than other regions -- saw 1,528 cave-ins in fiscal 2022, accounting for nearly 60% of such accidents across the country. [...] As of the end of fiscal 2022, more than 30,000 km of sewer pipes in the country had exceeded the standard 50-year service life. This figure is projected to increase to about 90,000 km in 10 years and 200,000 km in 20 years.

Sulfuric acid is believed to have caused damage to the sinkhole incident. When sewage organic matter rots, it releases hydrogen sulfide, which becomes sulfuric acid once in contact with the air. This acid is suspected to have adhered to the interior of the sewerage pipe, causing corrosion.

Paywall alert:

Japan's sinkhole crisis highlights aging sewerage infrastructure

Efforts continue to rescue trapped 74-year-old truck driver after 3 days

asia.nikkei.com

 

[thomas]

A dashboard cam captured the moment when the sinkhole appeared and swallowed the truck in Yashio City:

​

Meanwhile, five households near the massive, ever-widening sinkhole were urged to evacuate Sunday, with efforts to rescue a man stuck inside reportedly halted. This is in addition to other residents within a 50-metre radius of the cavity who are encouraged to evacuate.

Residents near Japan sinkhole urged to evacuate

The growing sinkhole in Saitama Prefecture could be the result of corroded sewerage pipes, according to local authorities.

www.japantimes.co.jp

 

[thomas]

Saitama Prefecture officials reported yesterday that they found what they believed to be the truck cabin within a sewer pipe downstream from where a road collapse swallowed the truck last week. The 74-year-old driver is still missing as of Thursday morning. The search is hampered by hydrogen sulfide and swift sewage flow within the pipe. A drone, sent to investigate a suspected blockage, located a misshapen white metal object roughly 100 metres from the collapse.

Truck cabin found in sewer pipe in Saitama sinkhole rescue operation

Despite the development, the truck’s 74-year-old driver remained missing as of Thursday morning.

www.japantimes.co.jp

In the next few weeks, sinkholes will keep dominating the local news. Here's one that opened today in Nagano:

Photo credit: Nagoya City via Kyodo​

Local authorities said that A 2-meter-wide sinkhole emerged on a road in Nagoya, central Japan, on Thursday morning, leaving a car stuck but no one injured. Police received an emergency call at around 7:50 a.m. from the car driver in his 30s, who said the front wheels of his car had fallen into a hole after the road caved in. The sinkhole was about 1.5 meters in depth, according to local authorities. Construction work to replace a water pipe was underway nearby, and the authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, suspecting a hollow emerged underneath the site.

Sinkhole traps car on central Japan road, no one injured - The Mainichi

NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- A 2-meter-wide sinkhole emerged on a road in Nagoya, central Japan, on Thursday morning, leaving a car stuck but no one injured, loc

mainichi.jp

 

[thomas]

After the road collapse in Yashio, a nationwide emergency inspection of sewer pipes identified corrosion and other abnormalities in three locations within the prefecture. Six underground cavities beneath roads were discovered in Saitama and other areas. They were not caused by deteriorating sewer pipes but still require urgent repairs. However, officials stated that none of the detected anomalies or cavities pose a risk of triggering a large-scale sinkhole like the one that occurred in Yashio on 28 January.

That's what the sinkhole looked like a week ago (photo credit: Shimada Tatsuya via Asahi)​

The three sites where abnormalities were found are in sewer pipes connected to the Shingashigawa River Water Circulation Centre in Wako. Inspections revealed misaligned pipes and corrosion on the inner walls of utility holes. If left unaddressed, these issues could lead to the formation of holes, allowing earth and sand to enter the pipes, potentially creating cavities and increasing the risk of a cave-in.

The ministry said the Saitama prefectural government has already begun taking countermeasures. Two cavities were found in Saitama and Nara prefectures, respectively. Two additional underground spaces were found in locations in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. All six cavities needed emergency repair. The ministry said all were shallow, less than 1.5 meters deep, and all have already been filled in. The latest emergency inspections covered approximately 420 kilometres of large-scale sewer conduits in seven prefectures—Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Osaka, Hyogo and Nara—which are similar to the one in Yashio where the sinkhole occurred.

Decayed sewer pipes found under roads at 3 sites in Saitama | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[thomas]

Update: after more than three months, the body of the unfortunate driver has finally been recovered.

Body found in broken sewage pipe that caused Saitama sinkhole | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis