Accident Involving 67 Vehicles Leaves 2 Dead in Japan

Maebashi, Gunma Pref., Dec. 27 (Jiji Press)–A multiple collision accident involving 67 vehicles has happened on the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, leaving two people dead and 26 injured. Around 7:30 p.m. Friday, the accident occurred near the expressway’s Minakami Interchange in the town of Minakami, Gunma. The prefecture’s expressway traffic police unit suspects that vehicles skidded as the road surface was frozen. Of the two who perished, one was identified as Miyuki Wakita, 77, from Chofu, Tokyo, who was in the back seat of a car driven by a member of her family, the unit said. The other was found in the driver’s seat of a truck Saturday morning. The area around the scene is on a gentle left curve. In the accident, a large truck collided with a midsize truck that had stopped sideways on the expressway. Following vehicles crashed into them and rear-ended one another in an area about 300 meters long. A fire then started in one of them, burning a total of 20 vehicles. Five people sustained serious injuries, while 21 others were slightly injured. At the time of the accident, the speed limit was set at 50 kilometers per hour due to snow. As a result of the accident, both the inbound and outbound lanes are closed between the expressway’s Tsukiyono Interchange in Minakami and Yuzawa Interchange in Niigata Prefecture, which neighbors Gunma, from shortly after 8 p.m. Friday. According to the Niigata branch of East Nippon Expressway Co., or Nexco East, it is unclear when the closure will be lifted. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]