Highway Tunnel Partial Collapse In Central Japan Leaves Three Injured, Two Cars Trapped, Lanes Closed Indefinitely

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Nagoya, Japan— A highway tunnel’s partial ceiling collapsed in central Japan on October 31, 2026, trapping two cars and injuring three people, shutting down a major expressway.

The collapse happened at 2:10 p.m. in the Nihonzaka Tunnel on the Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture. The tunnel is 2.5 kilometers long and carries heavy truck traffic between Tokyo and Nagoya. A 30-meter section of concrete ceiling panels fell onto the roadway. Two cars were directly underneath.

Central Nippon Expressway Company said three injuries were confirmed. One driver suffered a broken arm after his car was crushed partially. Two passengers in the second car had cuts and bruises. All three were conscious and pulled out by other motorists before firefighters arrived. Their cars were flattened.

The tunnel was filled with dust. Visibility dropped to zero. Drivers behind the collapse braked hard. One truck jackknifed trying to stop. No pileup happened because traffic was light. Emergency phones rang nonstop. The expressway control center closed the tunnel within three minutes.

The tunnel was built in 1969 and retrofitted in the 1980s. Its ceiling panels are suspended by steel rods. A similar collapse in 2012 in the Sasago Tunnel killed nine. After that, inspections were tightened nationwide. The company said this tunnel was inspected in March and no major defects were found.

Rescue teams entered from both portals with hard hats and lights. They checked for more trapped vehicles. Drones were flown inside to look for cracks. Engineers found that several suspension bolts had corroded. Water leakage had been reported in this section for months.

Traffic was diverted to local roads, causing 20-kilometer jams. Truck drivers who haul goods between Tokyo and Osaka were stuck for hours. One driver said he was carrying fresh fish that would spoil. The expressway is Japan’s main artery. Closure costs millions per hour.

The Ministry of Land said it would order emergency inspections of all tunnels with similar ceiling structures. It said it would review inspection records from the past year. The expressway company apologized and said it would cover medical costs.

By evening, the two cars were still under debris. Cranes were brought in to lift concrete slabs. The three injured were stable in Shizuoka hospital. The tunnel remained closed with no reopening time.