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Thousands of cars trapped by snow in Japan

December 18, 2020

A massive winter storm has dumped more than 2 meters (7 feet) of snow on parts of central Japan, stranding motorists in their cars. Some people have been stuck for 40 hours, and more heavy snowfall is expected.

https://p.dw.com/p/3mvrF
Cars stuck in the snow in Japan's Niigata Prefecture
Many cars on the Kan-Etsu expressway remained stuck well into FridayImage: Yosuke Hayasaka/AP/picture alliance

At least 1,000 vehicles on a stretch of the Kan-Etsu highway running through Niigata prefecture northwest of Tokyo were trapped by heavy snowfall on Thursday night into Friday, as a winter storm buried much of central Japan under meters of snow.

Vehicles stuck on Friday in Japan's Niigata prefecture
Cars sit Friday trapped by snow in the mountainous region between Tokyo and NiigataImage: Yosuke Hayasaka/AP/picture alliance

Dozens of emergency service personnel cleared snow from vehicles and provided food, fuel, blankets and portable toilets to people were stuck overnight Thursday into Friday morning.

East Nippon Expressway President Obata Toru told a press conference on Friday that 670 vehicles were still stuck as of 3 p.m. (0600 UTC), public broadcaster NHK reported.

A man hands food to a truck driver
Defense force personnel distribute food to trapped drivers on Friday Image: Yosuke Hayasaka/AP/picture alliance

Disaster management officials said they were working to evacuate stranded motorists to nearby hotels by the end of Friday, NHK reported.

The traffic jam began to form early Thursday morning when snow plows could no longer keep up with the accumulation, meaning some of the motorists have been stuck for more than 40 hours.

East Nippon Expressway said they hoped the section of highway, which connects Tokyo to the port city of Niigata, would be reopened by Saturday morning.

Cars stuck in Niigata Prefecture
The heavy snow in such a short time caught drivers unpreparedImage: ASSOCIATED PRESS/picture alliance

Over the past three days, a record 2.17 meters (7.1 feet) of snow was measured in the town of Minakami in Gunma prefecture. The ski town of Yuzawa in Niigata prefecture measured 1.8 meters of snow on Thursday morning.  

Japan's meteorological agency warned of more heavy snowfall over the weekend along the coast of the Sea of Japan.

A Japanese woman shovels snow
A woman digs out in the town of Minakami, which was buried by 2 meters of snowImage: Shuhei Yokoyama/AP/picture alliance

wmr/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters)