Mudslide Hits Niigata Mountain Road: Hillside Collapse Traps Two Drivers, Leaves Both Injured, Route Closed

Niigata, Japan— Two drivers were trapped with injuries after a hillside mudslide damaged a mountain road in Niigata Prefecture on October 22, 2026.

The slide hit at 9:10 a.m. on Prefectural Route 290 near Tokamachi, a winding road cut into steep forested slopes. Overnight rain saturated the hillside. About 200 cubic meters of mud, rock and trees broke loose and slid onto the carriageway, burying two cars and blocking both lanes.

One car was pushed against a retaining wall. The other was half-covered. Both drivers were inside, unable to open doors. Mud pressed against windows. Water kept flowing down the slope, adding weight. Passing drivers called 110 and flagged down a snowplow crew working nearby.

Prefectural police and fire teams arrived with excavators and shovels. They found one driver conscious with leg injuries, pinned by mud against the steering wheel, and a second with chest injuries and breathing difficulty. Rescuers dug by hand around the doors to avoid triggering a second slide.

“The hillside was still moving. We heard trees cracking above. We had to work fast but carefully,” said a Tokamachi fire official. The rescue took 90 minutes. Both were carried out on stretchers through ankle-deep mud.

The injured, men in their 40s and 60s, were taken to Tokamachi Hospital. Doctors listed one as serious with a fractured leg and ribs, the other stable with cuts and hypothermia. Both are expected to survive.

The road is a key link for rice farmers and mountain villages. The prefecture closed it for at least 48 hours. Geotechnical teams are monitoring the slope for further movement. Three nearby homes have been told to evacuate as a precaution.

Niigata has had 30 percent more rain than average this month, loosening slopes already weakened by summer quakes. The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a landslide warning for the region until tomorrow morning.

The site remains sealed. Heavy machinery is clearing debris. The investigation will focus on drainage above the cut slope.