Police gave prosecutors Friday their case against a former stationmaster and an employee of Tobu Railway Co. suspected of professional negligence resulting in death and injury in the March 15 accident at a manually operated grade crossing in Adachi Ward, Tokyo.
A Tobu Isesaki Line commuter train hit four women near Takenotsuka Station as they were crossing the tracks around 4:50 p.m. The crossing gate had been opened despite an approaching train, according to the police investigation.
Two of the women died and two were hurt, one seriously.
Kanji Komatsu, 52, has already been indicted for opening the crossing gate without confirming whether a train was approaching.
The former Takenotsuka stationmaster, 56, and the 57-year-old assistant chief of the operating division at Tobu Railway headquarters are suspected of not taking remedial action despite knowing the employees in charge of manually operating the barriers were not following safety procedures.
The stationmaster reportedly told police he was told by his predecessor that neither the stationmaster nor the carrier is obliged to take responsibility if any accident caused by the manual operation of the crossing gate occurs, according to police.