Jun 11 (Japan Today) - A 39-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman were killed after the car they were in went off a cliff while they were being pursued by police in Fukaura, Aomori Prefecture, on Sunday.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 5:25 p.m. along National Route 101, local media reported. Police said they had been searching for the couple, Masatoshi Ikejima and Asami Sato, after their families reported them missing. The car was spotted at a roadside rest area near a restaurant in Happo, Akita Prefecture.
However, before police officers could approach the car, the male driver immediately started the engine and began driving north in the direction of Aomori Prefecture, Sankei Shimbun reported. Police said they pursued the car for about five minutes at a safe distance, red light flashing without sounding a siren.
The car drove into the parking lot of a restaurant in Fukaura and then went over the edge of a cliff and rolled about 40 meters down an embankment. The vehicle was wrecked and the bodies of a man and woman, thrown from the car, were found nearby.
Police said an autopsy showed that Sato had been strangled and that she was probably already dead when the car went off the cliff.
