A trailer driver is being pulled out of a hole in Japan that first appeared on Tuesday and has since expanded.
The hole appeared in Yashio capital in Saitama district, near the capital Tokyo, swallowing a vehicle.
Road crashes have hindered rescue efforts, and authorities have ordered scores of families in the area to leave their homes.
The 74-year-old pilot was next heard responding to firefighters on Tuesday evening, according to local advertising.
While emergency personnel managed to remove the tractor bed from the pool-sized hole, the driver’s house remains buried under dirt and dust.
The hole, which is about 10 meters ( 33 feet ) wide and 5 meters deep, first appeared at a road junction on Tuesday morning.
An underwater wastewater tube allegedly burst, leading to its collapse.
A second hole appeared on Thursday as a result of waste water from the broken pipe flooding the hole, according to officials.
A lamp post and a cafe signage were both caught on film in that accident.
The road finally collapsed more, merging the two holes together to become a 20m-wide caldera, further complicating the save operation.
A gas pipelines is also housed in the enormous crater, which raises questions about a possible leak. 200 homes in the area have been ordered to leave their homes, according to authorities.
Additionally, they have urged people to use less water in and around the area.
Sinkholes are extremely common in Asian towns, as many have ageing sewage network infrastructure.
In 2016, a giant sinkhole in Fukuoka swallowed a five-lane street in Fukuoka, disrupting power, water and transport. No serious injuries were reported.
Last August, a search for a woman who disappeared into a pavement sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur’s city centre was called off after a week. Authorities deemed it “too risky” to continue deploying divers into the underground sewer network, which had strong currents and hard debris.