107 Victims Of 2005 Train Accident Remembered
Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of the deadly train accident that killed 107 people in the western Japanese city of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
This year the annual memorial service was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, but bereaved families still mourned the victims at the accident site and in their homes.
A speeding commuter train on the JR Fukuchiyama Line derailed on a curve and smashed into a condominium beside the railway track on April 25, 2005. In addition to the 107 deaths, 562 were injured.
The operator, West Japan Railway, had closed a memorial facility built on the accident site due to the pandemic.
But on Saturday, some bereaved families were allowed to enter the facility. They offered silent prayers to their loved ones at 9:18 a.m. -- the exact time the accident occurred.
Eighty-year-old Fujisaki Mitsuko lost her daughter who was 40 years old at the time of the accident.
Fujisaki said that she had been staying at home because of the virus, but she wanted to visit the memorial on the anniversary. She wore a locket with her daughter's picture in it.
President of the railway company, Hasegawa Kazuaki, offered flowers to the victims at the facility. He said he apologized for the accident and pledged to ensure safer operations. The railway operator says more than half of its employees joined the firm after the mishap. Its challenge is now how to pass down what it learned from the accident.
