47 Injured in Bus Collision on Tokyo Expressway

A bus collision on a Tokyo expressway left 47 people injured, mostly foreign nationals, on Saturday morning.

The incident occurred when one tour bus rear-ended another while both vehicles were traveling together on the Chuo Expressway in western Tokyo.

According to police reports, the accident took place at around 10:15 a.m. near the entrance of the Kobotoke Tunnel in Hachioji, Tokyo. Fortunately, none of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries.

The buses, which had both departed from JR Tokyo Station, were en route to Lake Kawaguchi in neighboring Yamanashi Prefecture.

The collision is believed to have occurred as a result of the buses repeatedly starting and stopping due to heavy traffic. Police suggest that the driver of the rear bus failed to notice the vehicle in front had braked, leading to the rear-end crash.

The crash caused a temporary closure of the outbound lanes between the Hachioji junction and Sagamiko interchange, as reported by Central Nippon Expressway Co.