47, including 6 Hongkongers, injured in bus collision on Tokyo expressway

Forty-seven people, mostly foreigners with six coming from Hong Kong, were injured Saturday after one tour bus rear-ended another while the two vehicles were traveling together on an expressway in western Tokyo, police said.

None of the victims have life-threatening injuries following the collision, which a bus driver reported at around 10.15 am to have occurred near the mouth of the Kobotoke Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway in Hachioji.

The buses had earlier departed from JR Tokyo Station and were on their way to Lake Kawaguchi in neighboring Yamanashi Prefecture.

It is believed the buses, operated by the same company, kept starting and stopping due to traffic, and the accident occurred when the driver of the rear bus failed to notice that the one in front had braked, according to police.

The accident led to temporary closure of the outbound lanes between Hachioji junction and Sagamiko interchange, operator Central Nippon Expressway Co. said.

The Immigration Department in Hong Kong said it has received one request for assistance, who suffered from minor injuries in the accident, as of Saturday night.

(Staff reporter and Kyodo News)
(Updated: Apr 6 12.27 pm)