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1 dead, 16 injured in vehicle pileup in Shiga; bus driver arrested

May 25, 2019 (Japan Today) - A woman was killed and 16 other people injured Friday after a bus carrying Chinese tourists collided with multiple vehicles on an expressway in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, local police said.

A woman in a van was pronounced dead after she was taken to the hospital, while a girl was in critical condition and two other girls were seriously injured. Two bus passengers, five children and six others also sustained light injuries.

The bus operated by World Cabin with 32 passengers from China aboard was traveling on the Meishin Expressway when it collided with a number of vehicles caught in traffic at around 4:20 p.m.

The bus driver, 52-year-old Takeshi Suzuki, was arrested on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury, the police said. He admitted that the bus caused the accident.

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