Fifth body found in train crash wreckage

The train derailment death toll in northern Japan rose to five as rescuers searched the snow-covered wreck today, following reports that more passengers could be trapped inside.

Meanwhile, the president of East Japan Railway Company, operator of the ill-fated express train, visited the crash site yesterday to lay flowers for the dead, and the government called for a review of railway lines vulnerable to strong wind gusts.

All six carriages of the train – reportedly travelling at up to 62mph - derailed on Sunday in rural Yamagata state, 180 miles north of Tokyo, during a sudden gust in a blizzard. The first three carriages flipped on to their sides and skidded along the snow embankment. One of them slammed into a pig shed.

Authorities had earlier said four people died, but renewed their search for victims yesterday after reports said three other passengers were missing. Workers later spotted the head and shoulder of a passenger, who was later confirmed dead.

Police identified the fifth victim as Yoko Emoto, a 28-year-old woman.

He said the search for the missing would continue today with about 230 rescue workers.

Passengers said they saw a woman in her 30s with her young daughter, but that neither had appeared among the dead or rescued.

The derailment raised questions about why the train was travelling when high-speed winds were registered in the area.

The wreck followed a major train accident on April 25 in Amagasaki in western Japan that killed 107 people and injured more than 500 others – Japan’s worst since 1963.

Takeshi Kakiuchi, the president of West Japan Railway Company, the company operating that train, announced separately yesterday that he would resign to take responsibility for the April crash. Company chairman Shojiro Nanya will also resign.

High speed was blamed for that crash, and an investigation showed drivers under pressure to stick to timetables sometimes ran trains too fast.