News On Japan

Tour Bus Carrying Over 20 Foreign Tourists Crashes in Hokkaido Tunnel

HOKKAIDO, Apr 01, 2025 (News On Japan) - A tour bus carrying over 20 foreign tourists collided with a van inside the Tokiwa Tunnel on the Dōō Expressway on March 31st, sending several people to the hospital.

The accident occurred between the Fukagawa and Asahikawa-Takasu interchanges, within the Tokiwa Tunnel.

According to firefighters, a driver passing by reported to emergency services around 9:40 a.m. that there had been a traffic accident involving a bus and another vehicle.

The vehicles involved were a tour bus and a one-box van. The tour bus is believed to have been carrying more than 20 tourists from Asia.

Several individuals were taken to the hospital, but all were reported to be conscious.

At the time of the accident, the road surface was reportedly frozen. Police are investigating the possibility that one of the vehicles may have skidded on the icy road.

As a result of the crash, sections of the expressway were temporarily closed: the northbound lanes from Asahikawa-Takasu to Fukagawa and the southbound lanes from Fukagawa to Asahikawa-Kita. These closures have since been lifted.

Source: 北海道ニュースUHB

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has drawn criticism over a social media post describing five hours of sleep as a rare luxury, as the extended Diet session prepares to begin Upper House debate on a controversial bill to establish secondary capitals outside Tokyo.

Japan began applying a new numerical alcohol threshold for dangerous driving offenses on July 21, introducing a clearer standard for cases involving impaired driving that could lead to fatal accidents.

Breathtaking 4K footage filmed from a helicopter offers a sweeping aerial view of Mount Fuji and its majestic surrounding landscape.

A covert network of shuttle tankers is carrying crude through the increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran disrupts shipping and raises concerns over how Japan will secure the oil it needs.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has criticized moves by Japanese and Ukrainian companies to cooperate on drone technology, warning that such ties would be regarded by Moscow as a "clear hostile act."

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A 27-year-old police officer arrested after crashing into a utility pole in Hiroshima was found to have been driving under the influence, with a blood test detecting nearly three times the legal alcohol limit.

A police officer fired a warning shot into the air after a 42-year-old woman approached officers while pointing a kitchen knife at them on a street in Eniwa, Hokkaido, on July 17.

A 45-year-old man was arrested early July 20 after allegedly crashing a passenger car into a convenience store in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and walking around the parking lot carrying a kitchen knife and a golf club.

A 42-year-old man was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and intentionally ramming a motorcycle in Togitsu, Nagasaki Prefecture, leaving its rider seriously injured.

More than a dozen people were injured after a massive rope suddenly snapped during a tug-of-war at a festival in Kitami, Hokkaido, sending participants falling backward onto an asphalt road.

A public housing complex in Aichi Prefecture where about 70% of households are occupied by foreign residents is showing signs of improvement after introducing multilingual communication, foreign-led neighborhood activities and a 3,000-yen fine for residents who skip community cleaning duties.

A fire that broke out at the long-established Echigo Tsurukame sake brewery in a densely populated residential district of Niigata City on July 19 destroyed the brewery and spread to at least six nearby homes, with firefighters still unable to declare the blaze fully extinguished by noon on July 20.

Two people found dead in a collapsed home following a landslide in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, have been identified as a married couple in their 60s who lived at the property, city officials said.