Japan inspecting tunnels after deadly collapse
By MALCOLM FOSTERBy MALCOLM FOSTER, Associated Press?
?The burnt wreckage of a minivan, which was crushed and caught fire in Sunday's accident, is moved on a transporter out of the Sasago Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, early Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. Concrete ceiling panels fell onto moving vehicles deep inside the tunnel, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work Monday while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more collapses. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
The burnt wreckage of a minivan, which was crushed and caught fire in Sunday's accident, is moved on a transporter out of the Sasago Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, early Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. Concrete ceiling panels fell onto moving vehicles deep inside the tunnel, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work Monday while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more collapses. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
In this image made off video footage taped Sunday afternoon, Dec. 2, 2012 by Yamanashi Prefectural Police and distributed Monday by Kyodo News, concrete ceiling panels collapse inside the Sasago Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan. The structure fell onto moving vehicles deep inside the tunnel Sunday morning, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work Monday while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more collapses. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
This image taken from the monitoring camera of Central Nippon Expressway's Hachioji branch, Tokyo, shows the rescuers looking for the injured among fallen roof panels in the Sasago Tunnel, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. At least seven people were feared missing after parts of the tunnel collapsed Sunday on the highway west of Tokyo, trapping vehicles as smoke from a fire inside initially prevented rescuers from approaching. The words at bottom read: Sasago Tunnel (To Tokyo). (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
A tow truck hauls the wreckage of a truck, which was crushed in Sunday's accident, out of the Sasago Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, early Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. Concrete ceiling panels fell onto moving vehicles deep inside the tunnel, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work Monday while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more collapses. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
A worker of Central Nippon Expressway Co. speaks to the reporters near the Sasago Tunnel where a collapse took place in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. At least seven people were feared missing Sunday after about 150 concrete panels fell from the roof of the tunnel on the main highway linking Tokyo with central Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
TOKYO (AP) ? Japanese officials ordered the immediate inspection of tunnels across the country Monday after nine people were killed when concrete ceiling slabs fell from the roof of a highway tunnel onto moving vehicles below.
Those killed in Sunday's accident were traveling in three vehicles in the 4.7-kilometer (3-mile) long Sasago Tunnel about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Tokyo. The tunnel, on a highway that links the capital to central Japan, opened in 1977 and is one of many in the mountainous country.
The transport ministry ordered that inspections be carried out immediately on 49 other tunnels around the country that are either on highways or roads managed by the central government and of similar construction.
Police and the highway operator Central Japan Expressway Co. were investigating why the concrete slabs in the Sasago Tunnel collapsed. An inspection of the tunnel's roof in September found nothing amiss, according to Satoshi Noguchi, a company official.
An estimated 270 concrete slabs, each weighing 1.4 metric tons (1.54 short tons), suspended from the arched roof of the tunnel fell over a stretch of about 110 meters (120 yards), Noguchi said.
The operator was exploring the possibility that bolts holding a metal piece suspending the panels above the road had become aged, he said. The panels, measuring about 5 meters (16 feet) by 1.2 meters (4 feet), and 8 centimeters (3 inches) thick, were installed when the tunnel was constructed in 1977.
Company President and CEO Takekazu Kaneko said that the company was inspecting other tunnels of similar structure, including a parallel tunnel for traffic going in the opposite direction. Both sections of the highway were shut down indefinitely.
Recovery work at the tunnel was suspended Monday while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more collapses, said Jun Goto, an official at the Fire and Disaster Management Agency
Yoshihiro Seto, an officer with the Yamanashi prefectural police, said they can't rule out that there are more bodies or survivors in the tunnel, but the possibility is low. Goto said they hope to resume recovery work on Tuesday.
Two people suffered injuries in the collapse.
Associated PressNews Topics: General news, Tunnel collapses, Road and highway operation, Accidents and disasters, Structural failures, Accidents, Transportation infrastructure, Transportation and shipping, Industrial products and services, Industries, Business
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