Pileup in Japan involving over 50 vehicles leaves two dead

A crash that started with a truck on the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Japan's Gunma Prefecture on Friday led to multiple collisions involving more than 50 vehicles, leaving two people dead and 26 injured, The Japan Times reported.

Police received an emergency call at around 7:30 p.m. Friday about a crash involving a truck 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 crashes involving more than 50 vehicles, with over 10 vehicles catching fire.

Of the two who died, one was identified as Miyuki Wakita, 77, from Chofu, western 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.

A large truck collided with a midsize truck that had stopped sideways on a two-lane road, triggering a pileup and causing a fire to start in one of the vehicles, the officials said, spreading to a total of 20 vehicles. The entire accident scene was about 300 meters long.

The area around the scene is on a slight left curve.

Five people sustained serious injuries, while 21 others were slightly injured.

At the time of the crash, the speed limit was set at 50 kilometers per hour due to snow.

As a result of the pileup, both the inbound and outbound lanes 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.

It is unclear when the route will reopen.