TOKYO – One man was killed and 11 people were injured in a hit-and-run incident on Nov 24 on National Highway Route 4 in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward.
An emergency call reporting the incident was made at around 12.30pm local time (11.30am Singapore time).
According to the Tokyo Fire Department, a man in his 80s was confirmed dead at a hospital, and a woman in her 20s was in cardio-respiratory arrest.
The driver fled the scene but was later apprehended, an investigative source said.
A 37-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of stealing a car and then causing the accident that occurred in Adachi Ward around 12.30pm, the police said.
The suspect’s name has not been disclosed as police are carefully evaluating whether he can be held criminally responsible, they said.
The vehicle entered a pedestrian crossing on a red light, veered onto the sidewalk, then returned to the roadway before coming to a stop after hitting a guard rail, according to the police.
In addition to striking pedestrians, the car also hit a truck and caused a six-vehicle pile-up.
The driver fled the scene on foot after the vehicle stopped.
A white car with a destroyed front end was left at the scene of the incident.
A man who witnessed the incident said he heard a loud crash and then saw “a man get out of the car and desperately flee the scene”.
According to the police, the man, whose occupation is unknown, is denying the theft charges, saying he “did not steal the car” but “ran out of the store to test-drive it”.
An emergency call was made two hours before the accident, around 10.30am, by an employee at a car dealership in the same ward, reporting that someone had “driven off on a vehicle that was on display”.
The Metropolitan Police Department was investigating the incident on suspicion that the driver violated traffic laws.
The incident occurred about 1km east of Tobu Railway’s Nishi-Arai Station, in an area lined with buildings and apartment complexes. THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, KYODO NEWS
AloJapan.com