TOKYO –
A woman in her 80s was killed after her car entered railway tracks on the Odakyu Enoshima Line in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, shortly before 10:30 p.m. on October 27, with security camera footage showing the vehicle traveling along the tracks, passing an oncoming train and stopping with its hazard lights flashing before being struck from behind by another train.
Footage captured by a security camera near the accident site recorded a vehicle approaching from the right as a train traveled in the opposite direction from the left. The sound of what appeared to be tires moving over railway gravel could be heard as the car continued along the tracks rather than on a road.
After passing the oncoming train, the car came to a stop and switched on its hazard lights, apparently signaling danger. About 20 seconds later, however, a train approaching from behind struck the stationary vehicle.
A nearby resident recalled hearing a sudden impact followed by a loud scraping and rattling sound. “There was suddenly a loud bang, followed by a clattering noise as though something was being dragged,” the resident said.
Another witness described hearing a train crew member shouting into what appeared to be an onboard communication device. “He was shouting that the car had been destroyed and that it was trapped underneath the train,” the witness said.
Video recorded by a resident approximately 30 minutes after the collision showed a large number of people gathered near the front of the stopped train, with a stretcher prepared some distance away.
The person who filmed the scene said the train driver had stepped down from the carriage and was using a flashlight to inspect underneath the train, apparently checking whether anything was trapped.
The car had become lodged beneath the train and was crushed beyond recognition.
Investigators believe the woman entered the railway tracks at a level crossing approximately 200 meters before the collision site. Rather than continuing across the crossing, the vehicle apparently turned left onto the tracks and proceeded along the outbound line toward Fujisawa Station.
The accident occurred on the outbound track between Mutsuai-Nichidaimae Station and Fujisawa Station.
Security footage showed the vehicle continuing along the railway before passing an inbound train traveling in the opposite direction. It then stopped and activated its hazard lights before being struck by the following outbound train.
The train involved in the collision was a local service bound for Fujisawa Station. None of the passengers or crew members were injured.
Following the accident, passengers were evacuated from the train and walked along the railway tracks to leave the area.
A nearby resident described seeing passengers emerging from the train and dispersing along the tracks. “People were getting off the train and walking along the railway, spreading out in all directions,” the resident said.
The collision forced Odakyu Electric Railway to suspend services between Chogo Station and Fujisawa Station on the Enoshima Line.
Services resumed with the first scheduled trains on October 28 after the damaged vehicle was removed and the tracks were cleared.
Odakyu Electric Railway apologized for the disruption, saying, “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers by the suspension of services along part of the line.”
The circumstances that led the woman to turn onto the railway tracks remain under investigation.
Source: FNN
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