Post by Linalin on Apr 27, 2005 10:45:10 GMT -5
Train crash victims' families cling to hope, grieve as death toll nears 100
OSAKA — Relatives and friends of victims of Monday's commuter trail derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, held on to the hope of their loved ones' survival while others grieved at news of their kin's death as rescue work continued round-the-clock through Wednesday.
Some 20 people are believed to be still inside the first and second cars of the West Japan Railway Co train that derailed and crashed into a condominium building, police said, raising fears the death toll may top 100.
As of 9 p.m. Wednesday night, the death toll stood at 95, with 458 people injured, 150 of them seriously.
About 100 people are staying at a gym in Amagasaki that turned into a makeshift morgue to wait for word of their loved ones who were on the train that derailed and crashed into a condominium building.
"We do not want to lose hope," said one but some relatives broke down in sobs as they identified the bodies carried over to the gym.
Some could not bear the sight of the bodies, some of which had sustained major injuries. Others fell ill and had to undergo medical treatment.
Kazuya Kotera, 63, identified his sister as among the fatalities.
"It was hard for me to continue waiting for word of my sister's fate. I felt somewhat relieved when her body was found," Kotera said, adding he cannot bring himself to blame the police and train officials as they are doing their best.
Most of those killed in the accident died instantly when the train derailed and crashed into a nine-story condominium building near a curved section of the railway track, the police said.
The police have detected dents on rails believed to be from braking or skidding, investigative sources said.
Several passengers have said they felt a sudden braking around the curved section and a major shock a few seconds later, they said. Some said they felt the train move upward around the time of the shock, they said.
Judging from the dents on the rails and the remarks of the passengers, the police suspect the possibility that the sudden braking produced an outward centrifugal force on the train resulting in the train moving upward and derailing, the sources said.
The sources said the train was traveling toward the curve at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour when it derailed, although the curved section has a speed limit of 70 kph.
The train theoretically would derail if its speed exceeded 130 kph but it was designed to have a top speed of 120 kph, according to JR West.
The police and firefighters are continuing to search for possible survivors in the wrecked cars using equipment that detects heartbeats with electromagnetic waves.
But they have not detected any signs of more survivors inside the wreckage.
At least 14 to 15 people are believed to be inside the first car and another four to five in the second car, for which work to dismantle it is under way.
A man believed to be train driver Ryujiro Takami, 23, is on the driver's seat of the train, but rescuers have been unable to get to him.
The accident occurred Monday morning near a railway crossing on JR West's Fukuchiyama Line, when the train was heading from Tsukaguchi Station to Amagasaki Station. JR West has said the train earlier overran the platform by about 40 meters at Itami Station.
The first five of the train's seven cars derailed. The first car plowed into the ground-floor parking area of the condominium building and overturned. The building is located about 6 meters from the tracks. The second car was flattened when it crashed into the building.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters Wednesday morning it will take time to identify the cause of the accident.
"Various factors have been cited in the media as being the cause of the accident, but experts need to be deployed for a comprehensive analysis," he said.
In issuing orders to about 50 rescue workers, the commander of the rescue team told them to prioritize saving lives.
But the search by Wednesday indicated that no people remain alive inside the wreckage.
"We want to return them to their families as soon as we can," said a rescue worker as a team tried to bring the bodies out of the wreckage without further injuring them.
Rescue work in the second car is almost completed and work to dismantle it is under way.
The train's conductor, Masatoshi Matsushita, 42, told JR West officials that the driver asked him after the incident at Itami Station to report a smaller overrun distance and so he conveyed to the command center three minutes later and said the train had an overrun of 8 meters, according to JR West.
After backing up to let passengers on and off at Itami Station, the driver apparently tried to make up for the delay by increasing speed and the train passed Tsukaguchi Station, the second station from Itami, about one minute behind schedule.
Just before the accident, JR West's command center contacted the driver twice but the driver did not respond, according to the railway company.
According to JR West, Takami, who has been driving trains for 11 months, previously worked as a conductor and had a record of two reprimands in that post — one for failing to pull an emergency lever when a train overran a platform in May 2002 and another over a passenger's report that he looked "absent-minded" while on duty in August 2003.
He also received a reprimand as a driver for a platform overrun of about 100 meters in June last year. (Kyodo News)
That's really sad that people are still stuck.
OSAKA — Relatives and friends of victims of Monday's commuter trail derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, held on to the hope of their loved ones' survival while others grieved at news of their kin's death as rescue work continued round-the-clock through Wednesday.
Some 20 people are believed to be still inside the first and second cars of the West Japan Railway Co train that derailed and crashed into a condominium building, police said, raising fears the death toll may top 100.
As of 9 p.m. Wednesday night, the death toll stood at 95, with 458 people injured, 150 of them seriously.
About 100 people are staying at a gym in Amagasaki that turned into a makeshift morgue to wait for word of their loved ones who were on the train that derailed and crashed into a condominium building.
"We do not want to lose hope," said one but some relatives broke down in sobs as they identified the bodies carried over to the gym.
Some could not bear the sight of the bodies, some of which had sustained major injuries. Others fell ill and had to undergo medical treatment.
Kazuya Kotera, 63, identified his sister as among the fatalities.
"It was hard for me to continue waiting for word of my sister's fate. I felt somewhat relieved when her body was found," Kotera said, adding he cannot bring himself to blame the police and train officials as they are doing their best.
Most of those killed in the accident died instantly when the train derailed and crashed into a nine-story condominium building near a curved section of the railway track, the police said.
The police have detected dents on rails believed to be from braking or skidding, investigative sources said.
Several passengers have said they felt a sudden braking around the curved section and a major shock a few seconds later, they said. Some said they felt the train move upward around the time of the shock, they said.
Judging from the dents on the rails and the remarks of the passengers, the police suspect the possibility that the sudden braking produced an outward centrifugal force on the train resulting in the train moving upward and derailing, the sources said.
The sources said the train was traveling toward the curve at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour when it derailed, although the curved section has a speed limit of 70 kph.
The train theoretically would derail if its speed exceeded 130 kph but it was designed to have a top speed of 120 kph, according to JR West.
The police and firefighters are continuing to search for possible survivors in the wrecked cars using equipment that detects heartbeats with electromagnetic waves.
But they have not detected any signs of more survivors inside the wreckage.
At least 14 to 15 people are believed to be inside the first car and another four to five in the second car, for which work to dismantle it is under way.
A man believed to be train driver Ryujiro Takami, 23, is on the driver's seat of the train, but rescuers have been unable to get to him.
The accident occurred Monday morning near a railway crossing on JR West's Fukuchiyama Line, when the train was heading from Tsukaguchi Station to Amagasaki Station. JR West has said the train earlier overran the platform by about 40 meters at Itami Station.
The first five of the train's seven cars derailed. The first car plowed into the ground-floor parking area of the condominium building and overturned. The building is located about 6 meters from the tracks. The second car was flattened when it crashed into the building.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters Wednesday morning it will take time to identify the cause of the accident.
"Various factors have been cited in the media as being the cause of the accident, but experts need to be deployed for a comprehensive analysis," he said.
In issuing orders to about 50 rescue workers, the commander of the rescue team told them to prioritize saving lives.
But the search by Wednesday indicated that no people remain alive inside the wreckage.
"We want to return them to their families as soon as we can," said a rescue worker as a team tried to bring the bodies out of the wreckage without further injuring them.
Rescue work in the second car is almost completed and work to dismantle it is under way.
The train's conductor, Masatoshi Matsushita, 42, told JR West officials that the driver asked him after the incident at Itami Station to report a smaller overrun distance and so he conveyed to the command center three minutes later and said the train had an overrun of 8 meters, according to JR West.
After backing up to let passengers on and off at Itami Station, the driver apparently tried to make up for the delay by increasing speed and the train passed Tsukaguchi Station, the second station from Itami, about one minute behind schedule.
Just before the accident, JR West's command center contacted the driver twice but the driver did not respond, according to the railway company.
According to JR West, Takami, who has been driving trains for 11 months, previously worked as a conductor and had a record of two reprimands in that post — one for failing to pull an emergency lever when a train overran a platform in May 2002 and another over a passenger's report that he looked "absent-minded" while on duty in August 2003.
He also received a reprimand as a driver for a platform overrun of about 100 meters in June last year. (Kyodo News)
That's really sad that people are still stuck.
