Overview
- The crash occurred around 8:40 AM on July 20 inside the 1-kilometre Takakurayama Tunnel on the southbound Hanwa Expressway.
- Six vehicles—five vans and one passenger car—with 26 occupants were involved after a rear-end impact triggered a chain reaction in the confined tunnel.
- Twenty-three people were injured, including three girls aged five, six, and nine, and ten were hospitalized with minor injuries.
- The expressway remains closed between Izumisano Junction and Hannan Interchange as NEXCO West Japan manages detours and clearance operations.
- Osaka Prefectural Police’s high-speed squad and the local fire department are probing the crash dynamics to determine the precise sequence of events.