A large truck and a van collided head-on Saturday in Fukushima Prefecture, leaving five people dead and three others injured, local officials said.
The accident occurred at around 12:10 p.m. on Route 349 in a mountainous area about 10 km east of Nihonmatsu. Six people were in the van and two in the truck, according to the officials.
Eyewitnesses said the van strayed into the oncoming lane at a left-hand curve and collided with the truck. Five of the six people in the van fled from the village of Katsurao last year because of the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station.
