TOKYO, Feb 5 — A massive sinkhole near Tokyo that swallowed a truck and its driver a week ago, and has filled with sewage and debris, highlights the risk posed by Japan’s...
This photo shows a general view of a collapsed road at a prefectural road intersection, in the city of Yashio , Saitama Prefecture on January 30, 2025. — AFP picas a first-time user . Exclusively for Malay Mail readers: Use codeTOKYO, Feb 5 — A massive sinkhole near Tokyo that swallowed a truck and its driver a week ago, and has filled with sewage and debris, highlights the risk posed by Japan’s ageing pipes.
Cranes have been mobilised and a 30-metre slope built to locate and reach the driver, with a second slope under construction, but progress has been slow and dangerous. When the hole suddenly opened up in Yashio, in the region of Saitama near Tokyo, during the morning rush hour on Tuesday last week, it at first looked like just one of thousands of sinkholes reported annually across Japan.
To reduce the volume of sewage, locals were urged to “use as little water as possible” for three hours on Tuesday afternoon. The week-long sinkhole saga was a reminder of the insidious corrosion gnawing at Japan’s ageing water and sewerage pipes, Shinya Inazumi, a professor of geotechnical engineering at Shibaura Institute of Technology, told AFP.
In just over 15 years’ time, 40 percent of Japan’s sewerage pipes will have exceeded their lifespan, according to an estimate from the land ministry.
Yashio Saitama Prefecture Koichi Yamamoto
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