Body of Japan train tragedy driver located

Workers pulled the uniformed body of the driver from the wreckage of Japan’s rail disaster today as the death toll rose to 106, police said.

The actions of 23-year-old Ryujiro Takami are at the centre of the investigation into Monday’s deadly collision, which is widely believed to have been caused by excessive speed. Takami may have been racing because he was 90 seconds behind schedule.

The government said on Thursday it was considering a new train driver certification system in the wake of the morning rush-hour disaster in Amagasaki, about 250 miles west of Tokyo. More than 450 people were injured.

Rescue workers today called off the search for further victims in the massive train wreck in western Japan, Kyodo News agency reported.

They believed a teenager extracted from the wreckage on Tuesday morning was the last one alive.

They pulled out eight bodies today, fire department officials said.

Authorities probing the accident have searched the offices of the train’s operator, West Japan Railway Company, over allegations of professional negligence. Investigators were also examining the train’s “black box”, a computer chip that stores information about the train’s speed.