The prefectural government of Saitama, north of Tokyo, says searchers have found what seems to be a human body in the driver's seat of a truck that fell into a sinkhole in January.



Governor Ono Motohiro made the announcement on Thursday. Firefighters and police plan to start a full-scale operation as early as Friday to search for the driver.



The truck fell into the sinkhole at a busy intersection in Yashio City in the prefecture.



On Thursday morning, more than 10 people in protective suits, including firefighters and police, entered the sewage pipe where the truck has been trapped for the first time since the accident. They alternately checked the situation.



The prefectural government has continued work to build pipes to divert sewage from the site.



Officials decided to start a search operation, concluding that there is little risk of follow-up disasters after examining the water level in the pipe, the condition of mud and the concentration of hydrogen sulfide.