SAITAMA (Japan), Feb 10 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Japanese firefighters said they ended their search on Sunday inside a sinkhole near Tokyo for a man whose truck was swallowed by it nearly two weeks ago, with attention set to switch to an underground sewage pipe.
According to Kyodo News Agency, rescuers were unable to trace the 74-year-old driver remaining in the sinkhole, which appeared at an intersection in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan 28.
On Sunday morning, firefighters deployed heavy machinery using a ramp leading into the sinkhole and started work to remove mud and rubble, but they were forced to suspend operations due to fears of a further collapse, they said.
The prefectural government has said the man could be somewhere in the sewage pipe after what appears to be a truck's cabin was found in the pipe, some 100 to 200 metres away from the sinkhole on Wednesday.
The sinkhole has widened continuously since it first appeared. It merged with another hole that formed nearby and now measures around 40 metres wide and up to 15 metres deep.
-- BERNAMA-KYODO
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