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2ND LD: Death toll in Yamagata derailment reaches 3+(Japan Economic Newswire)YAMAGATA, Japan, Dec. 26_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING) The death toll in a train derailment in Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture, on Sunday evening rose to three, and possibly four, early Monday with two persons pulled from the wreckage -- a young woman who was pronounced dead and a man who appeared not to be breathing, authorities said. All six cars of the express train Inaho No. 14, which was heading to Niigata from Akita, derailed just after it crossed a bridge where it was hit by extremely strong winds. Two of the dead were women, identified as Yuki Hatakeyama, 51, from the city of Akita, Mayumi Ukibe, and a 22-year-old nursery worker from Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture. A man who died in the accident is believed to be a 42-year-old office worker from Nikaho, Akita Prefecture, according to the police. Thirty-three people, including the train driver, suffered injuries and were brought to hospitals, the police said. There were 44 passengers and two crew members on the train when the accident occurred at around 7:15 p.m. Sunday between Sagoshi and Kita-Amarume stations on the East Japan Railway Co.'s Uetsu Line. The first three cars of the train overturned in the derailment after the train had crossed a bridge over the Mogami River, employees of the Niigata branch of JR East said. The police quoted the 29-year-old train driver as saying, "The train floated when it was hit by sudden winds." The train conductor was quoted as saying, "I felt an impact shock on my back soon after the train crossed the bridge, and then the lights in the train went out and the train stopped suddenly." A severe snowstorm warning had been issued in the area and a maximum wind speed of 77.76 kilometers per hour had been registered in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, which is about 6 km from the accident site, shortly before the derailment, the Yamagata Meteorological Observatory said. The JR East Niigata branch did not regulate the speed of the train as the maximum wind speed at the accident site at the time of the derailment was at about 72 kilometers per hour, below the standard limit at which the speed should be reduced, according to JR East. JR East said there was a report that the train driver applied the brakes after hearing an unusual sound. Due to the snow, the train had been more than one hour behind schedule and had left Sakai station, its previous stop, at 7:08 p.m., JR East said. JR East President Mutsutake Otsuka apologized for the accident at a press conference early Monday at the company's headquarters in Tokyo. "We are sorry we have caused a serious accident. I sincerely apologize to those who lost their lives and their families." Otsuka said later he will visit the accident site. The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry will send members of the Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Committee to the scene on Monday, while the Yamagata prefectural police have set up an investigation headquarters on the accident. The accident follows the April 25 derailment of a West Japan Railway Co. commuter train in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in which 107 people were killed and 555 were injured. |