Tochigi police raid Tobu Railway group firm over fatal train accident
The company was raided on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death in connection with the accident that killed four workers last week.
On Sunday, Tochigi Prefectural Police conducted a raid on an office belonging to a Tobu Railway group company, suspected of professional negligence leading to a fatal accident. This incident involved a Tobu Nikko Line train that struck four landscapers while they were clearing weeds on the tracks at Shin-Kanuma Station. Despite the train driver's claim of recognizing a signal indicating the workers had left the area, the workers were hit and killed by the six-car Spacia X No. 2 limited-express train shortly after 10:45 a.m. on Thursday.
The railway operator cited internal regulations requiring lookouts to signal workers to evacuate, which includes raising a yellow flag and the train driver sounding the horn. However, the train driver reported seeing the flag and sounding the horn, raising questions about the communication breakdown. Tochigi police have formed a special investigation team to probe the circumstances surrounding the accident.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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