6 Dead after Tunnel Accident in Japan’s Mie Pref.

Kameyama, Mie Pref., March 20 (Jiji Press)–Six people, including three children, were confirmed dead in an accident involving four vehicles that occurred early Friday in the Nonobori Tunnel of the Shin-Meishin Expressway in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, central Japan, police said. In the accident, which happened around 2:20 a.m., a large truck rear-ended a vehicle in front, and two more vehicles were involved, according to police and fire department sources. The truck and two other vehicles then caught fire. The blaze was extinguished by around 4 a.m., and bodies were found in burned-out vehicles. The Mie prefectural police arrested transportation company employee Mitsuyo Mizutani, 54, of Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, who was driving the truck, on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in death. “There is no doubt that I caused the accident,” she was quoted as telling investigators, admitting the allegations, according to the sources. At the time of the accident, road work was being carried out about 1 kilometer ahead of the scene, causing traffic congestion, the sources said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]