TOKYO, Jan 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Rescuers were on Wednesday trying to save a Japanese truck driver stuck in a sinkhole for more than 24 hours as local residents were evacuated over fears gas pipes could break.

Emergency workers in Yashio city outside Tokyo rushed to the scene on Tuesday morning after a road caved in and a lorry plunged into the hole that is around the width of two cars.

The driver was able to speak directly to rescuers until early Tuesday afternoon, but rescue workers had to retreat after the area around the hole became unstable, according to a fire department official.

"Rescue operations have continued around the clock but we haven't been able to contact the driver" since, another fire department spokesman told AFP Wednesday, adding that the driver was believed to be in his 70s.

The spokesman said that another sinkhole has since opened up nearby, and residents within a 200-metre (650-foot) radius had been evacuated.

Aerial TV footage showed the second sinkhole -- slightly bigger than the first, and just several metres away.

The main body of the truck was pulled from the first sinkhole at around 1 am, the spokesman said.

But the driver's cabin is still inside the hole, estimated to be about 10 metres wide and six metres deep (33 feet by 20 feet).