The engineer of a Japanese train that crashed and killed more than 100 people may not have been conscious at the time of the wreck, an investment claims.
The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry's Aircraft and Railway Accident Investigation Committee found that train driver Ryujiro Takami apparently failed to apply the train's brakes well before the derailment occurred. They said there was a possibility Takami was not fully conscious at the time, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Friday.
Officials said that the train was traveling at more than 68 mph when it entered a 43-mph-limit curve in Amagasaki, 250 miles west of Tokyo, where the train derailed. The train's emergency brakes applied after the train hit a utility pole, but there was no evidence showing that Takami had manually used the brakes. After hitting the utility pole, the train careened into then apartment building.
More than 100 people died in the wreck and hundreds of others on the crowded train were injured, officials said. A full accident investigation report is expected by the end of the month.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
