Tobu Railway held the first meeting of a third-party committee on Wednesday to examine how four workers were struck and killed by a train while clearing weeds at Shin-Kanuma Station in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture. The committee will discuss the cause and measures to prevent a repeat, and plans to compile a final report by March.
At the meeting, Tobu explained the circumstances of the accident and how the work was organized. Akitoshi Komatsubara, a Waseda University professor who chairs the committee, said its purpose is to propose safety improvements to Tobu "so that this kind of heartbreaking accident never happens again." The committee will meet about once a month.
Rule violations found
The accident occurred on the morning of August 20. The four workers were spraying weedkiller on the tracks at Shin-Kanuma Station when they were hit by a Spacia X limited express. According to Tobu's interim report, several violations of the company's safety management rules were confirmed, including a person directing the work who differed from the one named in the original plan.