Highway Tunnel Collapses in Japan - Sunday Dec 2,2012

Nine people were found dead early Monday Dec 3,2012 after their cars were crushed by slabs of concrete that fell from the ceiling of a tunnel in eastern Japan, severing a major highway leading to Tokyo.

The police said they were investigating the cause of the collapse on Sunday at the Sasago Tunnel — a three-mile passage near the city of Otsuki and about 50 miles west of Tokyo — and for evidence of negligence by the company that operates the highway.

The concrete crushed three vehicles, including a van carrying six people that caught fire, filling the tunnel with thick, black smoke. Only one of the van’s occupants, identified as a 28-year-old woman who worked at a bank in suburban Tokyo, was able to escape, the police said.

Firefighters found the bodies of five other people from the van after putting out the fire and determining that the ceiling was safe enough to permit rescue efforts. They also found two other vehicles, one a truck whose driver’s body was found in the cab, the other a sedan carrying three people who were killed.

The highway’s operator, Central Nippon Expressway Company, said supports made of concrete and metal suddenly gave away, causing a 350-foot section of the ceiling to fall. The company said a routine inspection of the tunnel in September failed to find any signs of danger.

The collapse caused a long traffic backup on one of the main highways into Tokyo. Television news reports showed smoke billowing from the tunnel entrance as motorists abandoned their cars or tried to turn in the other direction.