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2-year-old boy dies after being hit by train on crossing

28 Comments

A two-year old boy died after he was hit by a freight train on a crossing in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture.

According to police, Kakeru Aoki was hit by the train at around 9:30 a.m. Saturday at a crossing on the Tokaido line, Sankei Shimbun reported. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Shizuoka city but died of his injuries at around noon.

The train driver was quoted by police as saying he saw the toddler on the tracks about 100 meters ahead of him and applied the emergency brake but couldn’t stop in time.

At the time, the crossing bars were down. The child lived nearby. According to a local media report, one of his parents told police that Kakeru wandered off by himself before anyone knew he had left the house.

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28 Comments
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omg a 2 years old wandering around without his parent knowing!!! how could they not notice him leaving poor baby Rest in peace.

8 ( +16 / -8 )

I guess doing the laundry, or chatting with friends, or taking a nap, or playing a game, or making a cup of coffee, or whatever was more important to whomever was supposed to be watching the little boy.

-12 ( +9 / -21 )

How very sad, I would think that the train driver would love to stop the train instantly, but it must be a living nightmare for him/she knowing that there is nothing he/she can do other than sit and watch the tragic event unfold.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

The poor train driver will be haunted by this forever.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

Toddlers are toddlers and you can never predict what they are going to get up to. I lived in fear when my kids were that age. It's a really sad accident.

16 ( +17 / -1 )

Tragedy. Poor little boy. A nightmare for the parents especially and the train driver.

We have to keep a very close eye on our kids and do everything we can to avoid tragedies like this.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

I guess doing the laundry, or chatting with friends, or taking a nap, or playing a game, or making a cup of coffee, or

Or attending to another child who has just fallen and is screaming, or talking to the doctor on the phone while feeding another child, or ...

11 ( +14 / -3 )

Or falling asleep watching television, or cleaning out the cat's litter box, or putting camping equipment in the car, or washing the dishes, or...

-3 ( +8 / -11 )

Little toddlers wandering off is something that will always happen.

When I was two, I crawled out of our second story window and was walked around on the roof. My mom searched for me all over the house and yard but couldn't find me.

She finally went in and took a look out the window and there I was just sitting on the tiles taking in the scenery.

RIP to this unfortunate one. May peace someday come to these parents.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

"One of his parents told police he had wandered off before anyone knew he had left the house". That means there was more than one person responsible for the kid, or that parent would have said "he had wandered off before I knew he had left the house".

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

It’s disappointing to read so many ‘perfect parent’ posts attempting to point blame at the parents on such little information in he article. Perhaps the kid should have been chained to the bed post. Would that please the cynical masses? I have my doubts if any of those people have children of heir own. Two year old kids are monsters. That’s why they are called, the terrible twos. This is a terrible accident that could ‘possibly’ have been avoided, but the speculation in this thread is absurd!

10 ( +12 / -2 )

A tragedy, and every parent's nightmare. We did everything we could - short of chaining up our kids - barricades, locks, constant surveillance and strategically running ahead of them. Even so, their survival through ages two and three was also thanks to a careful driver who braked in time when one kid ran into the road, and training them to stop immediately when we yelled "STOP", as a taxi driver ran a red light outside their Shinjuku nursery school just missing them by centimetres.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

2 year olds are capable of walking and running, its idiotic to say they can’t wander off. I have two young children, I know what I am talking about.

Flying into hysterics blaming the parents when we know next to nothing about what actually happened is also idiotic.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

2 year olds doing strange stuff is obvious, but that's exactly why closing your doors or holding their hand when they're near a crossing just might be a really good idea...

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

I have 3. I know exactly what it's like.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Tragic.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@ doodahustle - there's not one post here who claims to be a perfect parent. And there's no speculation. It's a fact that the kid ran off and got hit by a train because he wasn't being supervised properly.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

@ rainyday - "flying into hysterics blaming the parents" - then who else was responsible for the child safety?

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

The parents made a tragic mistake.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

... which cost a young boy his life

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

As a guy has repeatedly had to jump out of his car and take matters into his own hands, alone, I wonder how many people sat around watching it happen?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Many years ago, I attended a coroners court. Several of the cases involved drownings. One was a toddler. It was most distressing but was ruled an accidental death. The carers or parents involved go through absolute hell, agony and despair enough, without people pointing a finger.

The poor kid in question was out of sight for a minute, tops. Such tragedies can and do happen to the most vigilant of folks.

Please bear this in mind.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So tragic, it could have been prevented and in such a country where birthrates are so low and babies are important as well...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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