TOKYO – A man died and eight others were injured after a government car apparently caused a multivehicle accident in Tokyo’s busy Akasaka district on Thursday, according to authorities.
The victim, 32-year-old company employee Noboru Akashi, was a passenger inside a taxi when it was hit by another vehicle that had collided with an official car of the Cabinet Office at an intersection at around 6:35 p.m. on Thursday.
Eight men and women in their 20s to 60s suffered injuries ranging from serious to minor in the accident involving six vehicles, including a garbage truck. Police are investigating the accident as a possible case of dangerous driving resulting in death and injury.
According to the authorities, based on footage from dashcams in the vicinity, the government car, which was being driven by a 69-year-old contracted worker, is believed to have ignored a red traffic light and entered the intersection.
The accident happened about 400 meters west of Toranomon Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. Government buildings, offices and the U.S. Embassy are in the area.
AloJapan.com