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Man dies after being hit by Tokyo Monorail train in tunnel

20 Comments

A man died after being hit by a Tokyo Monorail train bound for Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening in a tunnel between Showajima and Seibijo stations. The accident occurred about 6:25 p.m., police said. The man was taken to hospital where he died about two hours later.

Police said the man appeared to be in this 60s, but added they haven't been able to identify him yet because he carried no ID on him.

According to Tokyo Monorail, the incident affected 44 trains and nearly 12,000 passengers. There were no passenger injuries from the accident.

The tunnel in which the man was hit, Ebitori Tunnel, is beneath a canal. Tokyo Monorail officials said the man may have climbed over a fence to get into the tunnel, perhaps to get out of the sleet that was falling at the time.

© News reports

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20 Comments
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Probably was a homeless guy trying to get out of that freezing sleet- can't be pleasant sleeping rough in weather like yesterday's.

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can't be pleasant but should pick a tunnel with no tracks.

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What a horrible way to die! RIP old man.

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Always love people leaving "tips" for victims of horrible fatal accidents. Not so sure this dude will be reading JT.

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I think they are just stating that it amazing the lack of common sense some people have. I feel for the guy. But if I take a gun out and shoot my self in the face, there is no one else to blame but me because it was probably not to smart to aim a gun at my face and at the same time pull the trigger. A lot of the crimes, accidents, and deaths that you read about on this website could be avoided with just a little common sense. I think most Japanese people have it, but the ones who don't will inevitably end up on this website.

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Yeah ultra, I'm betting most of the homeless don't have internet access either. But some people are desperate to help.

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Does sound like the guy could have been homeless; desperate for shelter. Hope others like him are surviving this cold weather.

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one would think picking a tunnel with tracks would not have to be mentioned. Guess it does for some.

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Was the man drunk? Could explain a lot.

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According to Tokyo Monorail, the incident affected 44 trains and nearly 12,000 passengers. There were no passenger injuries from the accident.

Who the hell cares about how many trains and passengers were affected by this?? One man died. That's all people should care. Disgraceful journalism @ its BEST!

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Who the hell cares about how many trains and passengers were affected by this?? One man died. That's all people should care. Disgraceful journalism @ its BEST!

I agree KyokoSmile - but sadly, this is how a lot of the Tokyo commuters think. "Oh, no - we have run over someone - I'm now gonna be 10 mins late for work! Damn!" It comes down to man hours lost at work, and economics, rather than the human factor - in this case, a life lost. RIP poor man.

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Kyoko: Agree with you on that. I don't think it is really necessary to mention how many people were inconvenienced. Seems pretty cold.

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90% of homeless have a mental disability of some sort. Their elevators just don't go to the top floor. Thus, they are prone to making ill advised decisions. (like taking shelter in a train tunnel)

Sad.

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incident affected 44 trains and nearly 12,000 passengers

Wow, can't imagine the Keikyu being more packed without the extra monorail passengers

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Was he wearing a suit and carrying a brief case? This could be another intentional suicidal accident.

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It is indeed sad. No way to know yet if it was some guy trying to get shelter or if it was someone who intentionally sought out those tracks in order to commit suicide. No matter what, it is really sad.

And the saddest of all is that this kind of thing is so commonplace in Japan, that most are pretty much desensitized to it. That is why we see reports that detail the economic cost and time lost with regard to these incidents as opposed to shock over a life lost.

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Kyokosmile and Burakumindes: I think it's standard practice by Japanese media outlets to include information about how many people/trains were inconvenienced when a death occurs on train tracks, to discourage more potential suicides from happening. Copycat suicides from media reports of suicides are a major concern and whether the mention of inconveniencing others is an effective way of preventing this is debatable, but at least they are trying. Learn from the past to improve the future eh?

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Good point, Jason6. I found myself agreeing with the deploring of the media harping on the inconvenience aspect, but your comment shifted my point of view.

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(First off, let me be clear that there has been no indication yet that this incident was a suicide)

Suicides never consider the other people their suicide affects. How about the poor train operator who sees the person 50 meters ahead and knows there's nothing he/she can do to avoid mangling the life in front of them? Even if they slammed on the emergency brakes, inertia will still take them on through the body. The image of the suicide's body getting tossed like a rag doll before getting crushed/severed by the wheels gets indelibly burned into the train operator's mind. There was an article about this about three months ago that I read. Train operator's learn to look away just prior to impact to avoid the incident returning in their nightmares.

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i agree with KyokoSmile, it is lame to mention how many people are inconvenienced, however, it is also true that the families of the person who "inconvenienced" those people are forced to pay LOTS, sometimes they have to sell their house and have to work hard just to pay for that.. whoever commits suicide jumping on a traintruck is very selfish, i always think that the person who commits suicide this way really hates his/her families to leave such a heavy burden.

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