The Yokohama District Court on Tuesday ordered a Nagoya-based expressway operator to pay around ¥440 million in damages to the families of five of the nine people killed when the concrete ceiling in a tunnel collapsed three years ago.
The parents and other relatives of the five had demanded a total of ¥912 million, arguing that Central Nippon Expressway Co. and its Tokyo-based subsidiary failed to maintain and repair the aging structure.
The ceiling of the 4.7-km-long Sasago Tunnel, located on the Chuo Expressway in Yamanashi Prefecture about 80 km west of Tokyo, had not undergone a major refurbishment since its 1977 opening.