TOKYO (TR) – Police believe a man plunged to his death from a bridge over the Tokyo-Nagoya Expressway (Tomei) in Setagaya Ward early on Friday, causing the thoroughfare to be closed for several hours, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (Apr. 26).
According to police, a driver tipped off police about “the body of an animal” on the upper deck of the expressway in the Okura area at around 3:30 a.m.
Officers arriving at the scene found the body to be that of a human. The body showed signs of having been struck and dragged by several vehicles.
The gender of the person is not known, but officers found a smartphone and a pair of shoes worn by a man on the 9.7-meter-tall Dairoten Bridge, located about 100 meter from the discovery of the body.
While the investigation continued, the expressway was closed in one direction between the Tomei Kawasaki Interchange and the Tokyo Interchange from 4:55 a.m. until around noon.
About 30 minutes before, police received a call from a truck driver who said that he saw “something fall” from the bridge. His truck is believed to have been the first vehicle to strike the person.
Police are now seeking to identify the body and the circumstances that led to their death.
