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DeNA Team Minivan Involved in Collision With Truck En Route to Sugadaira Training Camp

A minivan carrying staff and athletes from the DeNA corporate men's team was involved in a traffic accident June 10 while en route from Kanagawa to a training camp in Sugadaira, Nagano. According to a team representative, the minivan collided with a cargo truck, but the accident did not result in any serious injuries. The team members will have their physical conditions monitored while remaining in Sugadaira. DeNA executive advisor Toshihiko Seko is currently focusing on his duties as JAAF marathon development project leader and was not in the van at the time of the accident.

With track races set to make a return in July after months of cancelations due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, corporate teams have begun to congregate in Sugadaira again to make use of its moderately high altitudes to get in base mileage. The DeNA team was set to begin its training today at between 1300 and 1500 m elevation in Sugadaira. The accident came as a surprise setback on the very first day of the team's camp activities.

The team minivan made contact with the truck while driving, and the front left side of the van sustained damage. A spokesperson for team management commented, "We are still gathering information about exactly what happened, but no athletes or staff members were injured."

In August, 1990, five members of the powerhouse S&B corporate men's team were killed in a tragic accident in Hokkaido. With the team having shifted sponsors from S&B to DeNA in 2013, this accident comes almost 30 years later. The athletes and staff involved were lucky to escape a more serious outcome.

source article:
https://hochi.news/articles/20200610-OHT1T50353.html
translated by Brett Larner

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