Severe Snowstorm hits Japan

More than 1, 000 vehicles have been stranded on the Kanestu expressway, which connects the capital Tokyo to Niigata in the north, for two days after a heavy snowstorm in Japan.

The snowstorm also caused misery for 10, 000 homes in the north and west as they were without power/

The gridlock began when a trailer got stuck in snow on Wednesday night.

According to police and highway operator, East Nippon Expressway Co the traffic jam had stretched up to 10 miles ( 16.5km) along the road at one point. Officials were using heavy machinery to dig out the vehicles one by one as around 1, 000 cars were stranded on the road as of Friday noon.

Niigata disaster management spokesperson said, “We are trying our best to rescue drivers and passengers, we are ready to continue the operation through the night “.

A similar traffic jam also happened on Joshinetsu Expressway which saw over 300 vehicles with passengers stranded, although that gridlock was cleared by Thursday morning.

The meteorological agency said the heavy snow is expected to continue through the weekend although this year’s cold spell was most intense.

Yoshihide Suga had called an emergency cabinet meeting urging the public to be extremely cautious, as Japan is battling a third wave of coronavirus cases.