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A young girl died after being hit by a high-speed train on the Saikyo Line at Nakaurawa Station in Saitama Prefecture, on Wednesday afternoon, police said. The driver told police he saw the girl, thought to be in her teens or early 20s, jump or fall onto the tracks from the platform as he approached the station at 4:40 p.m. He applied the emergency brake, but the train could not stop in time and the girl was killed.
Urawa police said they haven't determined yet whether the girl's death was an accident or a suicide.
According to JR East, roughly 500 passengers were on the train at the time of the incident, but none were injured. Six services were suspended and it is estimated that around 10,000 commuters were affected.
© Compiled from news reports
23 Comments
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3RENSHO
"He applied the emergency BREAK"
That would be impossible.
Sunjovi
Another sucide by a young soul. RIP
Disillusioned
Suicide or an accident. Either way, it's still a tragedy. I don't want to make the call, but statistically it is more likely to be a suicide, unfortunately.
DuraAce
I live very close to this station.
Such a shame when I hear about stuff like this and it happens WAY too much for in Japan for it to be an anomaly. There really is something weird going on here.
If it is a young girl, the chances are it is related to some kind of bullying. I wonder just how bad the bullying is to drive a person to suicide. I also wonder just how awful a culture can be where suicid and death are so trivial.
kujiranikusuki
@3RENSHO """He applied the emergency BREAK" That would be impossible.""
WHY?!?!?!? I have a hand brake in my car. some people call it the parking brake. he applied the emergency brake (function). is that better? critical much??????
Zenny11
Guess 3Rensho, never been on a train in japan.
They often use the emergency brake and many lines got broadcast warnings for "sudden" breaks and that people should hold onto the rails/grips. IME, those trains can stop FAAST, due the way the drive motors are distributed, etc.
porter
I wish the gov't would put barriers on the train platform. The Nanboku-sen is like that.
goddog
He has to apply the emergency brake in order not to be libel. They do that in NY City too, even though the drivers often know that if they manually applied the brakes, they have better control.
FightingViking
ebonyninja : I agree with you ! An "emergency break" during a busy day is always welcome ! (Are the others trying to be funny ? I can't believe so many of them wish to "break up" the train...)
FightingViking
Dear Moderator,
If people don't know the difference between a "break" and a "brake" it's about time they learned before there are too many accidents
iceshoecream
Gates on the train platforms would save many lives every year.
bobbafett
But this was suicide for sure. A favored method by Japanese as they will be noticed at the point of death by the inconvenience to people, mess, and money the family must pay plus media exposure. If you take away train suicide, people may start to leap off tall buildings with pedestrians getting caught up in it.
tokyotales
I guess 3Rensho was referring to a spelling mistake that has now been fixed.
techall
Urawa police said they haven’t determined yet whether the girl’s death was an accident or a suicide
I guess thay have ruled out the possibility that someone might have pushed her?
Elbuda Mexicano
A YOUNG GIRL? Geez! I thought this news would be about a very, very small girl, say like 5 years old, not an ADULT who willingly takes their own life.
Proffesor
"Suicide or an accident. Either way, it's still a tragedy. I don't want to make the call, but statistically it is more likely to be a suicide, unfortunately."
I think you just made the call, Disillusioned.
Tom DeMicke
I can't imagine the pain you feel from getting hit by a train. There's no way that you die instantly...quick, yes; but not instantly. I can think of better ways to take my own life, but I have no plans for that. Sad, sad, sad indeed. RIP young lady.
some14some
This is how suicide cases are reported in Japan, count must be nearing 30,000. RIP.
keika1628
Vertigo & nystagmus go hand in hand which affects anybody stepping off a train or in an area where there is a lot of motion going on around them . "THIS CHILD" most probably had such an attack of dizziness moving from platform to platform .
Elbuda Mexicano
This sounds like another daily suicide for Japan, where there are about 30,000 yearly suicides, so you all can do the math 30,000 divided by 365 days is?? Yes, 82.19178082 Japanese kill themselves every day.(Ok, we can round it off to 82 very, very sad, hopeless individuals here in Japan,so if you live here in Japan long enough you will see trains stopped sooner or later and hopefully you will never get to see a suicide in front of your own very eyes, which I did, when living out in Hachioji.
Kevin Lee Brooke
kujiranikusuki at 11:47 AM JST - 14th October @3RENSHO """He applied the emergency BREAK" That would be impossible."" WHY?!?!?!? I have a hand brake in my car. some people call it the parking brake. he applied the emergency brake (function). is that better? critical much??????
LMAO. Ummm, you don't get it, do you? Study English much????
Anyway, I agree with the board - definitely reeks of suicide.
Kevin Lee Brooke
keika1628 at 06:10 PM JST - 14th October Vertigo & nystagmus go hand in hand which affects anybody stepping off a train or in an area where there is a lot of motion going on around them . "THIS CHILD" most probably had such an attack of dizziness moving from platform to platform .
Ummmm.....yeah. Hear about that ALL the time. "Most probably" indeed.
keika1628
Himmm & Ummmm all you like <function> I don't think you have traveled much indeed