At least 134 cars were involved in a series of crashes in Japan on Tuesday when a snowstorm struck a stretch of highway with one person killed and a dozen hurt in the chaos.
The incident occurred on the Tohoku Expressway in the northern prefecture of Miyagi at around noon, on a stretch of road about 1 km (half a mile) long, the government said.
Authorities had imposed a speed limit of 50 kph (31 mph) when heavy snow cut visibility, but that was not enough to prevent the disaster.
Some 200 people were caught up in the crashes with 12 of them sent to hospital, the disaster management agency said.
Rescue operations were underway, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters.
Parts of Japan have seen unusually heavy snow in recent weeks. (Reuters/NAN)
