Nine dead in Japan expressway tunnel collapse

At least nine people died after a major Japanese road tunnel collapsed at the weekend, trapping vehicles and sparking a blaze, media reports said on Monday.

Police have confirmed that nine bodies were found in three vehicles inside the Sasago tunnel on the Chuo Expressway, which collapsed on Sunday morning, Jiji Press and Kyodo News said.

Concrete ceiling panels crushed cars and triggered the fire inside the nearly five-kilometre tunnel, 80 kilometres west of Tokyo.

Emergency workers had collected five charred bodies – three men and two women – from a vehicle by early Monday, Jiji said.

They had also recovered the body of a truck driver, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.