Busy highway tunnel collapses in Japan
01:03 - Source: CNN

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Story highlights

Aging parts in the tunnel's structure could be a cause, a company official says

Five of the bodies were recovered in one charred station wagon, police say

"Cars in front of us were crushed. It was terrifying" a witness tells TV Asahi

The partial cave-in was on the Chuo Expressway, 50 miles west of Tokyo

Tokyo CNN  — 

Nine bodies – eight of them burned – have been pulled from vehicles crushed in a tunnel collapse about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Tokyo, a highway police spokesperson said early Monday.

The disaster has prompted Japanese authorities to order emergency checks on dozens of other tunnels across the country that have a similar design, as questions were raised about whether aging parts may have contributed to the collapse.

Five of those were recovered in one charred station wagon, and three others were in another burned vehicle, according to the police spokesperson. The other fatality was in a truck.

The Sasago tunnel on the Chuo Expressway remained closed Monday morning, one day after the cave-in occurred on the highway’s Tokyo-bound lanes, Otsuki police said.

Japanese highway police said Monday that the section of concrete that fell was 110 meters (360 feet) long, Earlier, officials from the East Yamanashi Fire Department said it was about 50 to 60 meters (160 to 200 feet) long and about 20 centimeters (8 inches) thick.

“Cars in front of us were crushed. It was terrifying,” a man who witnessed the collapse told CNN affiliate TV Asahi.

“I don’t think I could ever drive through the tunnel again,” he said.

Soon after the collapse, Japanese public broadcaster NHK aired images showing smoke rising, a blue car with its side smashed in, and emergency vehicles on the scene.

Crews worked through the night trying to get to victims, all the while wary that the tunnel might collapse further. Those efforts continue, and authorities have not said if they believe more bodies will be found.

The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said it had ordered emergency inspections of about 49 tunnels nationwide that have a ceiling structure similar to that of the Sasago tunnel.

The privately held Central Nippon Expressway Company operates the 4.7-kilometer-long Sasago tunnel, among others, as well as expressways and toll roads around Japan.

Central Nippon Expressway conducts annual inspections of the tunnel, with one particularly thorough inspection held every five years, a company spokesperson said. A more intensive inspection of the Sasago tunnel was held sometime in the past two to three months, the spokesperson added.

“The aging of the bolts or the concrete slabs could be a potential cause,” Yoshizawa said, according to company spokesman Takayuki Ohmasa, who relayed the comments.

Yoshizawa told reporters that company maintenance teams had carried out regular visual checks on the ceiling that collapsed but had not done physical checks, like knocking on the bolts and slabs.

The Chuo Expressway is a particularly busy stretch of highway that runs between Tokyo and, among other places, Mount Fuji.

While it is a ways from the Japanese capital, the partial tunnel collapse and its subsequent closure is expected to cause major traffic and other headaches, especially for those who rely on it for business.

Authorities have not given any indication as to when they expect the tunnel to reopen, nor is it clear why the collapse occurred.

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Journalist Toshi Maeda in Tokyo contributed to this report.