At least 134 cars were involved in a series of crashes in Japan on Tuesday, 19 January when a snowstorm struck a stretch of highway, with one person killed and a dozen hurt in the chaos.
Ten people were taken to hospital, two of them seriously injured, public broadcaster NHK said in a report.
The crashes occurred on the Tohoku Expressway in the northern prefecture of Miyagi at around noon.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said a truck rammed into a passenger car, triggering the pile-up over 1km stretch of the highway.
The operator of the expressway was quoted by NHK as saying that the area was in a state of white-out due to the wind and snow, with visibility reduced to near zero.
Authorities had imposed a speed limit of 50km/h when heavy snow cut visibility, but that was not enough to prevent disaster.
About 200 people were stranded in the pile-up, which forced the closure of the Tohoku Expressway
NHK said highway authorities finished cleaning up the debris after about eight hours.
Parts of Japan have seen unusually heavy snow in recent weeks.
For more information, please visit: www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/japan-snowstorm-accident-pileup-tohoku-expressway-13993416
