Four workers died on Thursday after being struck by a train at Shin-Kanuma Station, located north of Tokyo. The collision occurred around 10:46 a.m. local time while the workers were engaged in removing weeds from the train tracks.
Emergency services arriving at the scene found three workers trapped beneath the train, with a fourth worker located on the platform. Train service on the Tobu Nikko Line was suspended following the incident, according to the railway company.
A passenger aboard the train reported hearing a "strange noise" before the train executed an emergency stop. Passengers were kept on the train for a period while staff investigated the sound, the passenger told NHK.
The train involved was a limited express, which is the second-fastest train service in Japan, trailing only the Shinkansen bullet train. In typical operations, an employee is usually stationed nearby to provide warnings to track workers about approaching trains. However, it remains unclear if such precautions were in place at the time of the accident.
Fatal train accidents are infrequent in Japan, a country that relies heavily on its extensive railway network.