Tohoku Expressway Pileup Leads to Arrest of Turkish National over Driving without License

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:33 JST, September 14, 2025

KANUMA, Tochigi — A 2-year-old boy is in critical condition and two other people were injured following a chain-reaction collision on the Tohoku Expressway on Saturday night. The driver of the car that caused the initial accident, a Turkish national, was later arrested on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Law.

After a collision left a vehicle stopped on the outbound passing lane of the expressway in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, another car rammed into it from behind at about 7:40 p.m. Saturday, according to the Tochigi prefectural police’s Expressway Traffic Unit.

Three people in the vehicle that crashed into the stopped car were taken to a hospital. A 2-year-old boy is in critical condition with severe head injuries while his 6-year-old brother sustained serious injuries. Their 36-year-old father suffered minor injuries.

Police said the driver of the stopped car, which crashed prior to the collision, fled the scene. However, officers located the man several kilometers from the scene and arrested him at about 12:40 a.m. on Sunday. The suspect was identified as a 30-year-old Turkish national from Saitama City.

The man was arrested on suspicion of driving without a driver’s license and failing to report the accident he was involved in. While he admitted to driving without a license, police say he partially denied the charges, stating, “I didn’t intend to run away.”

The outbound lanes of the expressway between Tochigi-Tsuga Junction and Kanuma Interchange were closed for four hours and 20 minutes due to the collision.