TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have revealed that one person was killed and six others injured after an official Cabinet Office vehicle collided with other vehicles at high speed in Akasaka, Minato Ward earlier this month, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Jan. 29).
At around 6:35 p.m. on January 22, the official vehicle entered an intersection and collided with a passenger car and a taxi approaching from the right. A total of six vehicles were involved in the accident.
According to the Traffic Investigation Division, approximately 30 seconds before the accident, the official vehicle left the Prime Minister’s Official Residence, located approximately 350 meters from the intersection.
Analysis of operation and control information remaining on the official vehicle at the time revealed that the accelerator was pressed approximately 10 seconds before the accident, and that the vehicle was traveling at approximately 130 kilometers per hour at the time of the collision.
The vehicle also reportedly veered into the oncoming lane approximately two seconds before the accident. The signal at the intersection had been red for more than one minute before the accident.
“Without any problems”
The official vehicle was being driven by a 69-year-old man working for a vehicle operations management company commissioned by the Cabinet Office. The man was injured and is currently hospitalized. Tokyo police plan to wait until he has recovered before questioning him.
Noboru Akashi, a 32-year-old office worker from Minato Ward, was riding in the back seat of the taxi. He died in the accident. The Traffic Investigation Division had initially announced that eight people were injured, but subsequent investigations revealed that the total number of injuries was six, with four seriously injured and two slightly injured.
According to an interview with the vehicle operations management company, the man was hired in April 2024. “He has been working without any problems [with his daily work attitude] and has not shown any notable changes in his mental or physical condition,” a representative of the company stated.
In response to an interview, the company stated, “We will fully cooperate in uncovering the truth of the accident, take the fact that a serious accident has occurred seriously, and will work company-wide to further strengthen safety measures to ensure such an accident never happens again.”
