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[Tom MoodyParticipant]

Efforts continue to clear debris in sinkhole, rescue trapped truck driver

Rescue personnel continued efforts to clear debris in an expanding sinkhole in Saitama Prefecture on Friday in the hope of saving a man trapped as the crucial 72-hour threshold of survival passed.

Preparations continued to install a ramp leading into the sinkhole, now measuring around 40 meters wide and 15 meters deep, so that machinery can be brought in to clear debris and reach the imperiled 74-year-old truck driver.

“We are doing what we think is best. All we can do is proceed with the operation,” a rescuer from a local fire department said.

The hole has widened continuously since Tuesday when it appeared at an intersection in Yashio City, and swallowed the truck.

Authorities are also dealing with the possibility that the sinkhole is filling up with river water backflowing in from a damaged underground rain pipe.

Local authorities said they are working with a construction contractor to excavate space for the roughly 30-meter-long ramp leading into the sinkhole from the parking lot of a nearby restaurant.

Once the ramp is complete and equipment brought in has cleared the rubble, rescuers will venture into the sinkhole to search for the man, they said.

But it may still take another two or three days until the ramp’s completion, authorities said, adding that rescue personnel may enter the sinkhole even sooner depending on the conditions.

The sinkhole first appeared on Tuesday morning. After a second hole formed nearby, the two later merged and the opening has continued to expand. Residents of nearby homes have been told to evacuate.

Some 1.2 million residents in a total of 12 cities and towns in the prefecture have been urged to refrain from using the sewage system since Tuesday, according to the prefectural government.

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