Video: Japan tunnel collapse: crushed vehicles removed from scene Two people were also seriously injured in the smashed 2.8-mile tunnel about 50 miles west of Tokyo on the Chou Expressway, a main road connecting the capital to western Japan. Japanese fire department officials said that a 165-197 feet long section of the tunnel's concrete ceiling panels collapsed onto cars at about 11pm on Saturday as they were driving through, trapping people and causing a fire. An official from the highway operator, Central Nippon Expressway (Nexco), said the metal rods used to secure the concrete panels to the tunnel's walls may have become loose. "At this moment we're presuming that the top anchor bolts have come loose," Nexco's Motohiro Takamisawa told local media. As the rescue operation and clear-up continues, vehicles crushed in the tunnel collapse are being removed from the passageway. The government vowed to take care of the victims and to prevent similar accidents. "The Prime Minister ordered the transport ministry to put the utmost efforts to rescue victims, to quickly investigate the cause of the accident and to establish measures to prevent similar accidents, and to provide a counseling service to victims to take care of them," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said at a news conference on Monday.