Monday's railway accident in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, was the worst since Japanese National Railways was privatized in 1987. A packed seven-car commuter train jumped the tracks at a sharp curve and the front car slammed into the parking floor of a nearby apartment building, killing more than 100 people and injuring over 450. The death toll exceeded that of a 1991 accident in Shigaraki, western Japan, which killed 42 people.
As of midafternoon Thursday, 106 people were confirmed dead. The death toll topped 100 after rescuers gained access to a crumpled portion of the first car and found the bodies of seven more people, including the driver. Government investigators, the police and JR engineers are working together to pinpoint the cause of the accident.
It is probably premature to conclude that the accident was caused entirely by error on the part of the driver and other operating personnel. All possible factors must be examined, including train operation, control mechanisms, structure of the train cars, maintenance and geography.
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