3 people dead in tour bus accident, 11 others in critical condition in Japan

NAGANO. KAZINFORM - A tour bus with 41 people bound for a ski resort veered off a road in Karuizawa town in the central Japan prefecture of Nagano early Friday morning, leaving three dead and 11 others in critical condition, authorities said.

About 20 other people were injured and transported from the accident site on National Route 18, some 2 kilometers south of Karuizawa station. Six of the 11 people in a critical state are men, and five are women, according to firefighters and police, Kyodo reports.
The bus with 39 passengers and two drivers had the accident at around 2 a.m. The road was not frozen at the time of the accident, police said.
The bus with a full load of passengers had been travelling from Gunma Prefecture. It strayed onto the wrong side of the road and rolled over the guard rail, crushing the front of the vehicle. One of the passengers made an emergency call, according to the police.
The bus was carrying people on a ski tour package sold by a Tokyo travel agency, the authorities said.