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A visually impaired elderly woman died Monday morning shortly after she was hit by an incoming out-of-service train at Kami-shinjo Station in Osaka’s Higashiyodogawa ward.
The incident occurred at around 9:20 a.m. on the Hankyu Line. The woman was walking along the platform, using a stick for the visually impaired when she accidentally fell onto the railway tracks, Sankei Shimbun reported.
The train hit her 50 seconds later. The driver said he applied the emergency brake but couldn't stop in time.
Police said the woman first scrambled under the platform but when she leaned out to reach for her umbrella with her walking stick, she was hit by the train. She was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Based on documents found in the woman’s purse, she was 89 years old and was suffering from a serious visual impairment.
According to Hankyu Railways station staff, there are Braille blocks on the five-meter-wide platform but no safety gates to prevent anyone falling onto the tracks.
© Japan Today
2 Comments
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papigiulio
Ugh, sad story. But if this 89 year old, had time to crawl back under the platform, why wasn't the train not alerted?
Goodlucktoyou
Feel sorry for the staff. It must be nightmare stuff to deal with. There wa blind assistance blocks, but she was walking without vision, on a train platform, with an umbrella and a walking stick, and maybe dementia at age 89. Of course it is sad, but it is like driving a car without a seatbelt or a boat without a life jacket. Society should help out these poor people.