The holiday season in Japan kicked-off to a gory start with a massive crash on Friday involving 50 cars that left one person dead and at least 26 injured.
A 77-year-old woman from Tokyo died, police said. Out of the 26 injured, five were reported to be in serious condition.
The crash on the Kan-etsu Expressway late on Friday started with a collision between two trucks in the town of Minakami, about 160 km northwest of Tokyo, said the Gunma prefectural highway police on Saturday.
It soon snowballed into a huge pile-up because of snowy roads that made it difficult for the traffic behind to apply brakes. With the trucks having blocked parts of the expressway, more than 50 vehicles ended up being involved in the crash.
Crisis escalated when a fire erupted at the far end of the pile-up, spreading to more than a dozen vehicles, some of which were completely burned.
Police said nobody was injured from the fire, which was extinguished about seven hours later.
As parts of the expressway remained closed for police investigation, removal and cleaning of the wreckage, a warning about heavy snow was in effect late Friday, when many Japanese started their year-end and New Year holidays.
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