6-year-old girl dies after being hit by train in Hyogo

the 7-year-old boy needs some really good emotional care as he probably witnessed the whole thing and hope people won't make him feel guilty in any ways. a 7-year-old cannot be responsible for another child. Too young.

6 and 7 is not old enough to be out alone by yourself, especially with so many sick people in the world. in America you would be charged with child negligence in some states if you left a child under 12 at home alone.

That's why it's considered "Child Endangerment" to leave kids unsupervised, even in your own home.

There is no such law in Japan.

6 or 7 is not old enough to play alone but these kids walk to school alone and take the train alone so it's likely normal for Japan.

Ugh... too many of these recently. It's so saddening..

Hate to hear news like this first thing in the morning. Poor girl. I guess there was no one else around at the time of the accident other than her 7 yr old brother?

Living close to rails track when I was a kid, I was told not to play around. So I never did. I think that around 6 you are able to tell by yourself, this is dangerous. Sad and stupid.

I grew up near railway and played near the tracks too. Ages six and up it's not when you know something is dangerous, it's an age when you know it's dangerous and do it for a dare. It's human nature. It's also human nature that the brother will feel guilty for the accident and his parents may blame him too. They should be given an extensive psychological support, but I'm not sure if there is such a thing in Japan.

WTF were the parents???????

Mean as it sounds, let that be another lesson to parents who let their young children out of their sight.

Last week, I was at a park with a big pond where four children under 5 were unaccompanied by an adult as they played too closely to the edge of the water. I was scared for them should one of them fall into the water. I looked around to see if their parents were around. None to be found. What makes young parents so negligent these days? Just plain stupidity on the part of these parents' parents not teaching them about safety first.

kolehe - Japanese learn everything from a textbook- driving, English and all the rest. Hence they have very little practical (what we would call) commonsense.

Poor little girl.

6 and 7 is way too young to be playing alone full stop, never mind by the edge of a railway line. What is wrong with these parents?

RIP girl. Pity for the boy and the train driver. Anger and questioning for the parents. Suggestions to the Japanese government to start funding daycare centers. Parents are overworked, leaving no time/energy for personal life.

do train drivers get charged like other vehicle drivers?

Seriously where are the parents?

bobbafett: Actually the parents will be charged for delaying the train and cleanup, I am serious.

Why blame the parents? These kids were old enough to be out and about by themselves and they were together. The blame should go to the society for a general lack of commonsense. Kids will play by train tracks and occasionally one makes a deadly mistake.

It starts with parents... 6 year olds are NOT old enough to supervise themselves, they need near-constant supervision when they are not in an safe area... That's why it's considered "Child Endangerment" to leave kids unsupervised, even in your own home. You can't go to work, to play pachinko, or hang out with your friends and leave children, unattended...

And if your house happens to be located next to a set of train tracks, that means, you need to clearly delineate, where little kenji-kun and aya-chan can play, and if that means, you need to load them up in a car and drive them to a park, with no train tracks running through there, then that's what needs to happen... Or these kids need to play in the house or find other SAFE ways to spend their time...

Yes it is 100% common-sense, but it's NOT common in Japan, it's more like RARE-SENSE... I guess they just don't teach these kinds of things in Japan...

I don't give a damn about the parents, it's too bad for the kids, that they are stuck with idiots for parents, and it ultimately may cost them their lives....

WHY has this happened AGAIN so soon? Don't people ever learn?

WHY has this happened AGAIN so soon? Don't people ever learn?

u assume the parents read JT i presume

... and was the train operator also arrested? Sounds similar to the little boy that crossed the road through stopped cars into an oncoming truck earlier this week...

I agree with earlier comments - where were the parents?

i dont think the train operator will be arrested in cases like this. this wasn't the operator's fault in any way, in fact, the family of the little girl will pay huge amount of money for delaying the train and often the familie spend the rest of their lives paying, selling their house and etc etc.. the parents are probably having a tough time right now, but it won't get any easier as they'll spend many more years to pay $$$.

Common sense is not so common.

So many people on here are really quick to judge the parents without really knowing any details of this story. Why were the kids near the tracks? Were they simply sent outside to play? Were they on their way home from school and goofing around like kids do? How do we know what the parents had or hadn't taught their children? For all we know, they could have taught them time and time again about safety around the tracks. Sometimes kids are still going to take chances without thinking.

So sad this happened. I feel for the family and what they must be going through. Hope the brother is able to heal after what he witnessed. Also feel for the train driver...hope he can get some kind of counselling.

Child rest in peace.

Parents please grieve in peace.

No blame from me - these tragic accidents will happen no matter how careful everyone is.

Parents with no common sense should not have kids.

"So many people on here are really quick to judge the parents without really knowing any details of this story."

Right, maybe the parents were just... busy???

6 and 7 is old enough to be playing in front of the house or in the backyard (hah, not in Japan...) but definitely not old enough to be playing alone by train tracks.

Also, living in a country with soooo many train tracks you'd think that you'd teach your children about train/track safety.

Where were the grandparents?

What about OTHER PEOPLE? But no, we're not allowed to approach children, much less get them away from something lest we want to be branded as some sick person trying to take advantage of kids.

I blame the society and government. They don't allow safety from the public.

The question is did the gate lift. I've seen it where a express train passed by and the gate started to lift. The train at the station started to move and the gate came down. But if you were a kid, you would think it was ok since the gate started to lift. 6 and 7 is old enough to be out on their own. That's a kid in first/second/third grade. I lived by a crossing when I was a kid and my friends and I played there all the time even at 4. Although my dog didn't fair so well. You can't protect kids from themselves and even if you teach all the rules, accidents happen.

That's why it's considered "Child Endangerment" to leave kids unsupervised, even in your own home.

betterdays - what on you on about?

sorry - should read "what ARE you on about"?

Damn, another kid walloped by a train? Where are the parents?

Rest in Peace poor girl. Gotta agree with some of the posters - I am always worried when I see kids even younger here walking along busy streets to and from school.

Again, feel sorry for the train driver...

Why blame the parents? These kids were old enough to be out and about by themselves and they were together. The blame should go to the society for a general lack of commonsense. Kids will play by train tracks and occasionally one makes a deadly mistake.

Disillusioned. Why blame the parents?

The parents should have made it really clear that playing near the train tracks is dangerous. But you are definetly right about society.

Lots of pots here calling the kettle.