Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows firefighters conducting rescue operations in Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, on Aug. 2, 2025, after four workers fell into a manhole. (Kyodo)
SAITAMA, Japan (Kyodo) — Four workers who fell into a manhole Saturday during a sewage pipe inspection in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, are all feared dead after being recovered without vital signs, police said.
The four men, believed to be in their 50s, did not respond to calls after falling into the approximately 15-meter-deep manhole in Gyoda.
The authorities received an emergency call at around 9:25 a.m. after one man apparently fell in, followed by the other three who tried to rescue him.
A city official said the inspection was being carried out in the wake of a massive sinkhole that appeared at an intersection in Yashio, also in Saitama, on Jan. 28, swallowing a truck and its driver, whose body was recovered in May.
The incident, believed to have been caused by sewer pipe corrosion, drew public attention to sinkholes and prompted the government to focus on measures addressing aging infrastructure.
==Kyodo
AloJapan.com