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A 4-year-old girl died after being run over by a sightseeing ride at a leisure facility in Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture, police said Saturday.
The accident occurred at Tohoku New Zealand Village at around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Fuji TV reported. There were multiple calls to 119 from the staff of the facility and other visitors, reporting that a girl had been crushed under a three-carriage bus that is replica of steam locomotive It is used to take visitors on a tour of the theme park.
The victim, Miku Saito, who was visiting with her father and brother from Koshigaya City, Saitama Prefecture. She was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead two hours later.
The girl's father told police he took his eyes off her for just a minute but doesn't know how she was hit by the bus.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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MyTimeIsYourTime
Things happen in life. But if hetook his eyes off because he was engrossed in his phone....so sad.
KyushuKris
Ugh. I've gotta say, for some reason the JapanToday commenter's are some of the most annoying, patronizing, and unrealistic people on the planet. Every time there's an accident with some little kid without fail some moron is going to chime in and say it's all the parents fault. Do these people even have kids? Do you know how hard it is to keep your eye on a child 24/7? I'll tell you how hard, damn near impossible. Short of cutting their legs off, what can you do? There will always be the occasional time when you have to take your eyes off them for a second while you check your a Google Map or take a call from the office that comes in suddenly while you're biting into a hotdog. There's just so many factors. But no, according to the JT lot it's 99% the parents fault every time- forgot that kids can dash off in the blink of an eye or stumble down a ditch because they have no balance. All I read on this stupid site is 'bad parents' 'those parents should never have been allowed to have children' 'burn in hell you terrible parents etc' It seems like everyone simply spews their initial emotion on here without giving it any proper forethought- the sign of a definite lack of maturity or experience. Kids are small and wild, sometimes they get killed. It's NOT always the parents fault, sometimes it's just bad luck- plain and simple.
TrevorPeace
@KyushuKris - a bit long, but absolutely spot-on! I've seen several new commenters join in the 'discussions' on JT, over the past year, and sadly the great majority of them are more than a bit mindless.
Steve Crichton
I have seen parents walk around with their children. Down narrow roads, across busy roads, anywhere in fact with kids lagging 20m behind. Very common place here. Not to say thats what happened here, but just saying.
Takuma7
RIP little one sorry your father doesn't have any CS and could not hold your hand.
Danny Bloom
The angels go early. Rip little one.
Monozuki
Referring back to my long years of experience in taking care of kids and grandkids, the father should have not taken his eyes off his daughter of just 4-year-old even for a moment. If he had looked aside from his kid and nothing happened, he should think it was just a lucky fluke. RIP little girl.
roosterman77
@KyushuKris. I agree and that's why I avoid reading too many comments, especially from certain posters, because it puts me in a bad mood. It's not that they just judge parents but they make it out to be a Japanese phenomenon. I wasn't there but it didn't sound like a dangerous situation judging from my own experiences at such places and the little girl was 4 and not a toddler. Where I'm from we are always looking for someone to blame when there is an accident. It was a terrible accident and I feel for the girl's family and the little girl herself.
zones2surf
@KyushuKris,
You are absolutely right, kids are kids, accidents DO happen, and it is impossible to prevent all of them. Just impossible.
I always feel sadness for the families when I read these stories and it reminds me how quickly accidents can occur. That in no way is intended to blame anyone. If anything, it is a reminder for myself, as the father of a 26 month old boy.
One thing I will say is this. Some commenters may comment the way they do because of how they have seen some parents (and, yes, in Japan, because this is a Japan-oriented site) handle their children. Or not handle them may be more appropriate. Of course, this is not unique to Japan. I keep reading about the idiot parents in the U.S. that will leave their young child in a closed car in the hot summer sun while they go shopping. Boggles the mind.
In this case, I feel nothing but sadness for the family. Here they were probably at the end of their Obon holiday visiting relatives and this tragedy strikes. RIP little one.
NathalieB
Completely agree with KyushuKris - it is impossible to watch your children 24/7, especially when you have more than one of them.
However - I think a lot of posters get frustrated as they see how Japanese handle children out and about. Like me, Im sure others of us have had to rescue a 2 year old sitting in the middle of the road with the parents nowhere to be seen (he had escaped from a park and they didn't notice), or a 4 year old standing by the side of a major road all alone (the 6 year old was supposed to be watching him but got bored and wandered off apparently), or a 3 year old in the park who fell down and badly injured herself - again, her 6 year old older sister who was supposed to be watching her was totally incapable of dealing with it, and nor should she have to.
These are just a handful of my own experiences. Im sure other people have many more but THAT is why people get frustrated here when they see or hear of things like this happening. There is taking your eyes off your child for a second at just the wrong moment, and there is idiocy.
sensei258
I feel for the guy. I know I'd go insane if that happened to one of my granddaughters.
3RENSHO
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