Death and Delays as Tokyo is Slammed by Rare Snowstorm [VIDEO]

Tokyo is being hit by the largest snowstorm the metropolis has seen in more than a decade. The rare winter storm has crippled the usually precise punctuality of the city's trains and caused flights to be canceled in the city of 13 million that's home to the one of Asia's busiest airports.

At least three people have died and hundreds of snow-related injuries have been reported, according to the AFP.

By Saturday afternoon central Tokyo was covered in about 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow, the most Japan's capital city has seen since 1998, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which said that by Sunday some regions of the metropolitan area could be covered in as much as 50 cm ( 20 inches) of snow.

Two elderly people were killed in a automobile accident on their way to a nursing home, the AFP reported, adding that police suspect that the car skidded on an icy road and caused the head-on collision. In Nagano a man was killed after a train hit his car at a railroad crossing.

More than 600 in-bound and out-bound flights have been canceled due to the snow, according to media reports citing Japan's national broadcaster NHK.

Japanese airline ANA canceling nearly 300 domestic flights and three international flights as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Bloomberg News service, which added several airlines had canceled flights bound for departing from Tokyo's Haneda Airport, the second busiest in Asia.

The snowstorm comes a day before voters in Tokyo are to head to the polls for a gubernatorial election, and universities across Tokyo delayed the start times of their entrance examinations for the new academic year, which begins in April, according to the AFP.