50-Vehicle Snowy Pileup Kills 1, Injures 26 in Japan

A massive pileup involving more than 50 vehicles on Japan's Kanetsu Expressway left one person dead and 26 others injured late Friday, as heavy snow turned a routine holiday drive into a fiery chain-reaction crash.

The incident unfolded around 7:30 p.m. local time near the Minakami Interchange in Minakami town, Gunma Prefecture, about 160 kilometers northwest of Tokyo. According to Gunma prefectural highway police, the sequence began when a large truck collided with a midsize truck that had stopped sideways across a two-lane section of the road, which features a slight left curve. The impact blocked the roadway, and vehicles approaching from behind, unable to brake on the icy, snow-covered surface, slammed into one another, police said. A heavy snow warning was in effect at the time, and authorities had reduced the speed limit to 50 kilometers per hour in the area.

The crash quickly escalated when a fire broke out at the far end of the pileup, engulfing more than a dozen vehicles and leaving many charred beyond recognition. Emergency responders worked for about seven hours to extinguish the blaze, which caused no additional injuries. Among the victims, a 77-year-old woman from...