Supercars' outing ends in $4m smash (+ video)

It is possibly the most expensive crash in the world, involving no fewer than nine Italian thoroughbreds belonging to members of a supercars club.

Fourteen machines, including eight Ferraris, one Lamborghini and a Nissan GT-R were involved in the smash on the Chugoku Expressway in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

A more homely Toyota Prius was also among the wreckage.

Ten people were taken to hospital, and the damage bill could reach almost $4 million.

Among the supercar casualties were two Ferrari F430s, two Ferrari F355s, two Ferrari 360 Modenas and a Lamborghini Diablo.

"The accident occurred when the driver of a red Ferrari was switching from the right lane to the left and skidded," said Mitsuyoshi Isejima, a representative of the Yamaguchi Prefecture's traffic police.

"It was a gathering of narcissists."

The drivers were aged between 37 and 60, he said.

The person suspected of causing the accident, a 60-year-old man from Fukuoka, faces up to three months in jail or a hefty fine, said Mr Isejima.

The bill exceeds that of the previous most expensive crash, where a blonde woman hit four luxury cars - a Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin worth a combined $1.2 million - while navigating her $500,000 Bentley out of a parking area in Monte Carlo, Monaco, this year.

The crash in Japan happened on a curve and involved an oncoming car - a Mercedes-Benz.

The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported that one of the Ferraris hit a median strip.

It hit the Mercedes and, as it disintegrated over the next 400m, following supercars from the enthusiasts' club piled into the wreckage.