TOKYO β A truck and its driver were swallowed by a sinkhole the size of a large swimming pool that appeared at a busy intersection in the Japanese city of Yashio on Tuesday. The crater, about 32 feet wide and 16 feet deep, appeared about 10 a. Aerial footage from the broadcaster showed at least 12 fire trucks were on the scene in the city, which sits to the north of Japan's capital, Tokyo.
Police told NHK that an investigation into what caused the sinkhole was underway. The driver was still conscious and capable of talking to the police earlier in the day, but the broadcaster later reported that rescuers could no longer communicate with him. The busy intersection, lined with restaurants and local businesses, is less than a mile away from Yashio City Hall. Images of the widening crater sparked concerns and questions about local infrastructure among social media users who deliberated over the cause of the road collapse.
There have been several incidents involving sinkholes in Japan in recent years. In September, a sinkhole in the city of Hiroshima appeared after an underground water pipe burst and the road had caved in. Several people trapped in buildings were rescued by the fire department. In , another giant sinkhole, about 98 feet wide and 50 feet deep, suddenly appeared in the Japanese city of Fukuoka and swallowed five road lanes before it was flooded.
The incident caught the world's attention as Japanese workmen repaired the road within a matter of days. This article was originally published on NBCNews. Surveillance footage shot from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, showed on Friday, the most clear images yet of this week's catastrophic midair collision near Washington D.
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