Four workers carrying out weed-control work on a railway track in Japan were killed after they were struck by an express train as it entered Shin-Kanuma Station, north of Tokyo.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
The collision occurred around 10.46 am (local time) on Thursday while the workers were spraying herbicide on the railway track, according to Tobu Railway, which operates the line.
Police are investigating whether proper safety procedures were followed at the time of the accident, railway officials said at a press conference.
Train services on the Tobu Nikko Line were suspended following the incident.
The four men, three workers and a supervisor, were taken to hospital after the collision but were later pronounced dead, police and train operator Tobu Railway Co. said.
Six others at the site, including two workers, three people assigned to lookout duty and another supervisor, were unharmed, according to Tobu Railway.
The four workers, who were in their 50s and 60s, were part of a 10-member team carrying out work at the site, railway officials said. The team included a supervisor and three lookouts responsible for warning workers of approaching trains.
The lookouts typically use whistles and microphones to alert workers, while also waving a yellow flag to signal the train driver.
However, when repeatedly asked whether anyone had been keeping watch for approaching trains before the collision, railway officials did not provide a clear answer.
A Tobu Railway representative had earlier told the BBC that the "usual lookout system was operating as normal". "When a train approaches, a lookout waves a flag and, once the driver acknowledges it, sounds the horn," he said.
"We are currently investigating why the accident occurred despite this."
Train services on the Tobu Nikko Line were suspended following the accident, according to Tobu Railway.
A passenger aboard the train told Japanese public broadcaster NHK that they heard a "strange noise" before the train made an emergency stop. The passenger said those on board remained on the train for some time as staff announced that they were investigating the source of the noise, as cited by the BBC.
Fatal train accidents are relatively rare in Japan, despite the country’s extensive railway network. The train involved in Thursday’s collision was a limited express service, NHK reported.
Limited express trains are among the fastest in Japan, second only to the Shinkansen, or bullet trains.
