| Global update |
Death toll climbs to 71 in Japan train crash
BY MAR] YAMAGUCHI
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMAGASAKI, Japan — The death
toll rose to 71 on Tliesday as crews
pulled more victims from the
wreckage of Japan’s deadliest rail
crash in decades. Investigators
focused on whether excessive speed
or the driver’s inexperience caused
the train to derail and slam into
a building.
The seven-car commuter train
carrying 580 passengers derailed
Monday morning near Amagasaki,
a suburb of Osaka about 250 miles
west of Tokyo. It hit an automobile
and then a nine-story apartment
complex. More than 440 people
were injured.
Crews pulled 14 more bodies
from the twisted rail carriages,
pushing the death toll from 57 to 71
Two of the five derailed cars were
shoved inside and flattened against
the wall of the building’s first-floor
parking garage.
Relatives rushed to hospitals
looking for loved ones who might
have been injured or killed in the
r
5:18 a.m. crash.
“I only saw him the night before,”
said Hiroko Kuki, whose son died in
the crash. “I wish he were alive
somewhere ... I wish it were only a
nightmare. ”
Takamichi Hayashi said his elder
brother, 19-year-old Hiroki, might
be among those still in the wreck.
He said Hiroki
license in May. A month later, he
overshot a station and was issued a
warning, railway officials and police
said. Passengers said he also
stopped too far past a station plat
form Monday just before the crash.
Tsunemi Murakami, safety direc
tor for West Japan Railway Co., said
it had not been determined how fast
the train
had called their
mother twice
on a mobile
phone from in
side one of the
train cars hours
after the crash
but remained
“For the train to flip, it had
to be traveling at an extremely
high speed. ”
Kazuhiko Nagase | TVain expert
was trav
eling.
A sur
v i v i n g
crew
member
told police
he “felt
unaccounted for.
“He told my mother: ‘I’m in
pain. I’m not going to make it,”’
Hayashi said.
Officials said no cause had been
ruled out but added that investiga
tors suspect speed and the driver’s
lack of experience on the job.
The driver, Ryujiro Takami, 23, ]
was unaccounted for.
He received his train operator’s 1
the train was going faster than usu
al,” public broadcaster NHK said.
Other passengers also speculated
the driver might have been speed
ng to make up for time lost when
ae overshot the previous station by
15 feet and had to back up. The
rain was nearly two minutes be
lind schedule, media reports said.
The crash occurred on a curve
vith a speed limit of 43 mph.
Murakami estimated the train
would have had to be traveling at 82
mph to have jumped the track
purely because of excessive speed.
Some stretches of track in Japan
have safety systems designed to
stop trains at any sign of trouble
without requiring drivers to take
emergency action, but transport
ministry officials said the automatic
braking system along the stretch of
track where the train crashed is
among the oldest in Japan and can’t
halt trains traveling at high speeds.
Outside experts predicted investi
gators would find a combination of
factors to blame.
“There are very few train acci
dents in Japan in which a train has
flipped just because it was going too
fast. There might have been several
conditions at work — speed, winds,
poor train maintenance or aging
rails,” Kazuhiko Nagase, a train ex
pert and professor at the Kanazawa
Institute of Technology, told NHK.
“For the train to flip, it had to be
traveling at an extremely high
speed,” Nagase said.
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Train derails in
western Japan
A commuter train carrying 580
passengers derailed in western
Japan Monday, killing at least
57 people and injuring 441.
Takarazuka'
Train
derailment
—%
Osaka Bay
5 mi
magasaki
*
...y Osaka
r
_
CHINA ' RUSSIA ^
.V NORTH
<J<OREA
ZP1
Sea of
Japan \ \
, JAPAN
Tokyo Pacific
Ocean
0 150 mi
0150 km
SOURCES: ESRI; NGA
AP
IN BRIEF
Iraqi politicians discuss
transitional government
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi politicians
on Monday again tried to end a dead
lock over the formation of the coun
try’s new transitional government,
while the death toll from two well-co
ordinated militant attacks against Iraqi
police and civilians rose to 29.
Insurgents, meanwhile, launched
another attack on Iraq’s oil facilities,
using explosives to set fire to oil pumps
used for domestic supplies near
Kirkuk, an official at Northern Oil
Company said on the condition of
anonymity. No injuries were immedi
ately reported.
On Sunday, lawmakers loyal to
Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim al
Jaafari said he was ready to announce
a Cabinet that would exclude his inter
im predecessor, Ayad Allawi.
Some members of Al-Jaafari’s politi
cal block said he had decided to shun
further attempts to include members
of the party headed by Allawi, the sec
ular Shiite politician who had served
as prime minister as the country pre
pared for elections Jan. 30.
Pope reaches out to
Christians, Muslims
VATICAN CITY — A day after
reaching out to other Christians and
to Jews in his installation Mass, Pope
Benedict XVI met with members of
the Muslim community Monday and
assured them that the church
wanted to continue “building bridges
of friendship.”
Benedict made the comments in a
meeting with religious leaders who at
tended his installation ceremony, say
ing he was particularly grateful that
members of the Muslim community
were present.
“I express my appreciation for the
growth of dialogue between Muslims
and Christians, both at the local and
international level,” he said.
“Peace is also a duty to which all
peoples must be committed, especially
those who profess to belong to reli
gious traditions,” he said. “Our efforts
to come together and foster dialogue
are a valuable contribution to building
peace on solid foundations."
The Vatican didn’t say which Muslim
leaders went to the private meeting.
“I assure you that the church wants
to continue building bridges of friend
ship with the followers of all
religions, in order to seek the true good
of every person and of society as a
whole,” he said.
— The Associated Press