Overview
- Police confirmed one death and 26 injuries, including five serious cases, while several reports cited a second body recovered from a burned truck.
- The collisions began when a large truck struck a midsize truck that had stopped sideways after an earlier crash, with wreckage stretching about 300 meters.
- A fire at one end of the pileup engulfed at least 10 vehicles, with some reports saying up to 20, and took roughly seven hours to extinguish without causing additional injuries.
- Authorities reported more than 50 vehicles involved, though some counts rose to 67, as travel unfolded under a reduced 50 kph speed limit due to snow and ice.
- Both directions closed between the Tsukiyono and Yuzawa interchanges, and the operator said the outbound lane was scheduled to reopen Sunday as clearing and investigations continue.