Oct 02 (tokyoreporter.com) - A handicapped man was hit and killed by a train after he tumbled from a railway station in Takaishi City on Sunday, reports NHK.
At 9:30 p.m., the man, Kazuyoshi Kurahashi, a 59, fell onto the tracks of the JR Hanwa Line at Tonoki Station before he was hit and killed by a an express train passing through the station and bound for Wakayama Station, according to Osaka Prefectural Police.
The driver noticed Kurahashi on the tracks when the train was about 100 meters from the station and applied the emergency brakes but was unable to stop in time.
Kurahashi suffers from a visual impairment. An examination of security camera footage taken just before the accident showed him walking unsteadily along the platform with a white cane before he suddenly tumbled off the edge.
No barricades
According to police, Kurahashi, a resident of Takaishi, is a regular user of the station, which has raised bumps on the concrete floor that are used to guide visually impaired persons. However, it does not have barricades to prevent persons from tumbling onto the tracks.
How Kurahashi fell of the platform is now under investigation, police said.
Source: ANNnewsCH
