Three people have been confirmed dead and two others were injured in an accident Tuesday morning involving seven vehicles on the Metropolitan Expressway near Tokyo, according to police.
Three cars caught fire in the accident that also involved four trucks in Toda, Saitama Prefecture. The Tokyo police believe the three victims were trapped inside the cars.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested the 28-year-old male driver of one of the trucks at the scene on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in deaths. Named as Sakyo Furihata, he was quoted by an investigative source as saying he was "not conscious" when the crash occurred.
The expressway was congested at the time, and the truck he drove is believed to have been the first to hit another vehicle.
The Metropolitan Expressway runs through Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa prefectures.
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