Japan police search for driver after car carrying 2 kids falls from bridge onto expressway
HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka -- A passenger car crashed through the fence on the side of a bridge and fell onto the shoulder of an expressway in this central Japan city on June 1, but only two children were found inside the car, and the police are searching for the driver.
Around 1:30 p.m., multiple emergency calls reported an overturned car on the inbound lanes of the Tomei Expressway in Hamamatsu's Chuo Ward. According to Hamamatsu Chuo Police Station, a passenger car broke through the side fence of the Hikumano Bridge, which crosses over the expressway, and fell onto the expressway's shoulder. The driver was not found in the vehicle, and police are searching for their whereabouts. The car is believed to have been involved in a single-vehicle accident at a city road intersection on the north side of the bridge just before the fall.
According to Shizuoka Prefectural Police and Hamamatsu's fire department, only two children were inside the car when authorities arrived at the scene. Both were taken to a hospital in the city by ambulance. They were conscious at the time of transport, and are believed to have sustained only minor injuries. Police are continuing to search for the driver who abandoned the vehicle and are investigating the detailed cause of the accident.
(Japanese original by Shiho Fujibuchi, Shizuoka Bureau)
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