Japan Sasago tunnel collapse 'traps cars'

TOKYO. December 2. KAZINFORM A road tunnel has collapsed in Japan, trapping a number of vehicles, Japanese media reports say.
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The incident happened at about 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT Saturday) in the Sasago tunnel, about 80km (50 miles) west of the capital Tokyo.

Public broadcaster NHK quoted its reporter as saying that black smoke was coming out of the tunnel and there appeared to be a fire inside, BBC News reports.

Five people were feared trapped in the tunnel, later reports said.

'Frightened'

A 100m (328ft) section of the tunnel caved in on the Tokyo-bound lanes on the Chuo Expressway, in Yamanashi prefecture, reports say.

"We don't know exactly how many vehicles are on fire," a traffic police official told the AFP news agency.

The official added that a woman was taken to hospital after she had made her way out of the tunnel.

The woman said she was with five other people in a van, but added: "I have no idea about what happened to the five others. I don't know how many vehicles were ahead and behind ours."

Another survivor told NHK that he saw "a concrete part of the ceiling fall off all of a sudden when I was driving inside. I saw a fire coming from a crushed car".

He added that he was "frightened" and walked for an hour to get out of the tunnel.

The Sasago tunnel is an estimated 4.3km-long (2.7 miles). The twin-bore tunnel is on one of the major highways out of Tokyo, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield Hayes in Japan reports.

Firefighters are still trying to extinguish the blaze.

 

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