Central Japan Tunnel Collapse Victims Remembered 10 Years On

Otsuki, Yamanashi Pref., Dec. 2 (Jiji Press)--Nine people who died in a tunnel ceiling collapse on the Chuo Expressway in central Japan were remembered Friday, marking the 10th anniversary of the accident.

At 8:03 a.m. (11:03 p.m. Thursday GMT), the time when the accident happened Dec. 2, 2012, bereaved family members and others offered silent prayers near the tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture.

Central Nippon Expressway Co., or Nexco Central, which manages the tunnel, held a memorial ceremony at the Hatsukari rest area on the expressway in the Yamanashi city of Otsuki, attended by some 60 people including bereaved family members and Nexco Central executives.

Nexco Central will pass on the lessons from the accident to coming generations and do the utmost to improve the safety of expressways, President Toshiji Komuro said, noting that the share of employees who joined the company after the accident has exceeded 30 pct.

Shinichi Ishikawa, 73, said he still cannot believe that he lost his 28-year-old daughter, Yuri. "I want to know the causes of the deaths of my daughter and the other victims," he added.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]