Truck driver is swallowed by a sinkhole in the middle of the intersection

By Sebastian Kramer, Emelie Herrmann

Tokyo (Japan) - In the north of the Japanese capital Tokyo, a hole suddenly opened up in the middle of a busy intersection. A truck driver fell into it!

In the middle of an intersection near Tokyo, a hole in the ground opened up and swallowed a truck.
In the middle of an intersection near Tokyo, a hole in the ground opened up and swallowed a truck.  © -/kyodo/dpa

According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo, the hole is said to be around ten meters wide and six meters deep.

One man, the driver of a truck, fell into the hole and became trapped.

As reported by"ABC News", the front end of the truck was stuck in the dirt, which initially made rescue difficult.

The driver has since been freed by the fire department with the help of a crane and is also conscious. However, two firefighters were injured during the rescue operation.

Emergency services tried to free the trapped truck driver from the hole in the ground.
Emergency services tried to free the trapped truck driver from the hole in the ground.  © -/kyodo/dpa

Cause of the collapse still unclear

Passers-by expressed their shock after the accident. One man who had witnessed the incident explained that he drives on the road almost every day, "now I don't know if it's even safe to use the road anymore".

The cause of the break-in was initially unclear and is reportedly being investigated. It is suspected that a damaged sewage system near the junction may have led to the break-in in the road.