1 dead, 3 injured in multi-vehicle crash in central Japan

One person has died and three others were injured in a multi-vehicle accident involving more than a dozen vehicles on a national highway in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo, early Sunday morning, police said.
The accident occurred shortly after 5:30 a.m. local time on National Route 50 in Sano City, Tochigi. According to police, tea leaves loaded on the bed of a large truck spilled onto the roadway over a stretch of about 500 meters, causing the following vehicles to skid and collide with other cars and roadside barriers.
A total of four people were injured and taken to the hospital. A 78-year-old man had been in critical condition when he was taken to the hospital, where his death was later confirmed.