Japanese region asks 1.2 million people to use less water to help sinkhole rescue
Japanese region asks 1.2 million people to use less water to help sinkhole rescue
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Japanese authorities have asked residents of 12 cities and towns in Saitama prefecture to limit showers and laundry to prevent worsening sewage leaks. Efforts to rescue a 74-year-old driver continued on Thursday, days after a massive sinkhole in the Japanese city of Yashio swallowed up his truck.
![[The driver was able to speak directly to rescuers until the afternoon on 28 January but rescue workers had to retreat after the area around the hole became unstable, according to a fire department official. Aerial TV footage showed a second sinkhole -- slightly bigger than the first, and just several metres away -- had opened up overnight, causing operations to be delayed]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/30/10/56/GettyImages-2195928186.jpeg)
Japanese authorities have asked 1.2 million people across 12 cities and towns in the eastern part of Saitama prefecture to limit showers and laundry use and thereby ease the pressure on the sewer system. “Putting our first priority on saving the person’s life, we are asking residents to refrain from non-essential use of water such as taking a bath or doing laundry,” a Saitama prefecture official told AFP on Thursday.
![[Rescue operations continue for a truck driver after his vehicle was swallowed up by a sinkhole at a prefectural road intersection the day before, in the city of Yashio, Saitama Prefecture. The driver was able to speak directly to rescuers until the afternoon on 28 January but rescue workers had to retreat after the area around the hole became unstable, according to a fire department official]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/30/10/42/GettyImages-2195928037.jpeg)
“Using toilets is difficult to refrain from, but we are asking to use less water as much as possible.”. The massive sinkhole appeared in Yashio at around 10am local time on Tuesday, Saitama prefecture governor Motohiro Ono said. The crater measured about 32ft wide and 16ft deep.
“It is thought to have been caused by a crack in the Nakagawa River Basin sewer pipe,” Mr Ono said on Tuesday. “As a result of this collapse, a passing truck fell in.”. Efforts to save the 74-year-old driver have since been complicated by unstable ground, a second, larger sinkhole, and seeping water, local media reported. The second sinkhole in Yashio appeared on Thursday after wastewater from a ruptured sewage pipe flooded the original sinkhole.
