Accident Involving over 50 Vehicles Leaves 1 Dead in Japan

Maebashi, Gunma Pref., Dec. 27 (Jiji Press)–A truck accident on the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, has led to multiple collisions involving more than 50 vehicles, leaving one dead and 26 injured. Around 7:30 p.m. Friday, police received an emergency call reporting a truck accident near the expressway’s Minakami Interchange in the town of Minakami, Gunma. According to officials at the prefecture’s expressway traffic police unit, the accident triggered multiple accidents involving more than 50 vehicles, with over 10 vehicles catching fire. A 77-year-old woman from Chofu, Tokyo, died, five people sustained serious injuries, and 21 others were slightly injured. A large truck collided with a midsize truck that had stopped sideways on a two-lane road, following vehicles then crashed into them, and a fire started in one of them, the officials said. The area around the scene is on a gentle left curve. At the time of the accidents, the speed limit was set at 50 kilometers per hour due to snow. As a result of the accidents, 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.]