Last Japan train wreck survivor rescued

Rescuers today pulled three people believed to be the last survivors from the wreckage of Japan’s worst rail accident in four decades, and raised the death toll to 73 as they found more bodies inside twisted metal train cars.

The seven-car train was packed with 580 passengers yesterday morning when it jumped the tracks near an Osaka suburb and plunged into the first floor of an apartment complex. More than 440 people were injured.

Nineteen-year-old college student Hiroki Hayashi, weak and injured in the leg, was extracted from the wreckage after surviving the night with the help of an intravenous drip and drinking water. Two other people were rescued early today, the Amagasaki Fire Department said.

Semi-conscious when taken to the hospital, Hayashi was in serious condition and in intensive care, a Kansai Rousai Hospital official said on condition of anonymity.

Police at the crash site said there were other people still stuck in the cars, but none were responding, indicating Hayashi was the last one alive.

Two of the train’s five derailed cars were shoved inside and flattened against the wall of the building’s first-floor garage, complicating the rescue.

The authorities, meanwhile, launched their investigation as about 10 inspectors arrived at the scene to examine the rail tracks.

The probe focused on whether excessive speed or the actions of the inexperienced, 23-year-old driver caused the crash in an urban area near Amagasaki, 250 miles west of Tokyo.

Passengers speculated that the driver – who was still unaccounted for – may have been speeding to make up for lost time after overshooting the previous station.

The driver – identified as 23-year-old Ryujiro Takami – had obtained his train operator’s license in May 2004. One month later, he overran a station and was issued a warning for his mistake, railway officials and police said.

They were investigating the case as a possible professional negligence on the train operator, West Japan Railway, a prefectural police spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

The accident was the worst rail disaster in nearly 42 years in safety-conscious Japan, which is home to one of the world’s most complex, efficient and heavily-travelled rail networks. A three-train crash in November 1963 killed 161 people in Tsurumi, outside Tokyo.