AMAGASAKI, Japan (Reuters) - A crowded Japanese commuter train derailed Monday and crashed into an apartment building, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundreds in the country's worst rail accident in over 40 years.
As night fell, workers were struggling to rescue people trapped in crumpled wreckage and twisted metal in the first-floor car park of the building.
Fire department officials said at least four people traveling in the front car of the train were believed to be alive in the wreckage.
The building, in a suburb of Osaka city, was just six meters (20 feet) from the railway track.
Officials said they did not know the cause of the crash, which took place shortly after the morning rush hour. But passengers said they felt the train, which had been late leaving the previous station, had been moving faster than normal.
About 300 people were taken to hospital, a police spokesman said. It was not known if the injured included anyone from the apartment building, he said.
Five of the train's 7 cars derailed in the accident. The train was carrying about 580 passengers.
Rescuers in hard hats clustered near the twisted remains of the front two cars, one of which had been smashed to less than half its normal width, using cutters and ladders to get inside.
Railway officials said that calculations had shown that a train could derail if it were traveling at nearly twice the speed limit at the site where the accident occurred.
Passenger Tatsuya Akashi, who had been on his way to work, told public broadcaster NHK it felt as if the train had speeded up as it went around a curve.
"I thought there were some strange swings, and then the train derailed. No one knew what happened and everyone kept screaming," he said.
It was the worst train accident in Japan since 1963 when about 160 people were killed in a multiple train collision at Yokohama, near Tokyo.
OVER-SHOT STATION
"There was no side to the car any more, and bleeding people were crawling out. I heard others screaming 'it hurts, it hurts,"' a woman in her 20s told NHK.
Soldiers from Japan's Self-Defense Forces were sent to the scene to help with rescue efforts.
Operator West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) said the cause of the derailment was under investigation but it confirmed that the train had over-shot the station at its previous stop.
"The priority for now is to rescue the passengers," West Japan Railway President Takeshi Kakiuchi told a news conference.
Company officials said the train's driver was a 23-year-old man with 11 months experience who had over-shot another station last year. His fate was unknown.
Satoru Sone, a professor at Kogakuin University, told NHK that the over-run might have indicated a problem with the brakes.
"Then, when they tried to put on the emergency brakes, the wheels could have locked," he added.
Officials said the speed limit at the site of the accident was 70 km (44 miles) per hour. Calculations showed derailments were possible at a speed of 133 km per hour, they said, although they did not know how fast the train had been going.
"The train over-ran a stop at the previous station and so it backtracked," a visibly shaken man in his 20s, his face bloodied, told NHK. "So I guess the driver was in a hurry because the train was running late.
"The train was moving so fast, we hit a turn and I didn't think we'd make it," he added.
Japanese trains generally have a good safety record.
In Japan's last major accident, in March 2000, five people were killed and 33 were hurt when a Tokyo subway train ripped away the side of a carriage of an oncoming train that had derailed in its path during rush hour.
In May 1991, 42 people were killed and more than 600 injured in a crash in Shigaraki, western Japan.
Shares in JR West closed down 3.6 percent in a slightly higher overall market.
As night fell, workers were struggling to rescue people trapped in crumpled wreckage and twisted metal in the first-floor car park of the building.
Fire department officials said at least four people traveling in the front car of the train were believed to be alive in the wreckage.
The building, in a suburb of Osaka city, was just six meters (20 feet) from the railway track.
Officials said they did not know the cause of the crash, which took place shortly after the morning rush hour. But passengers said they felt the train, which had been late leaving the previous station, had been moving faster than normal.
About 300 people were taken to hospital, a police spokesman said. It was not known if the injured included anyone from the apartment building, he said.
Five of the train's 7 cars derailed in the accident. The train was carrying about 580 passengers.
Rescuers in hard hats clustered near the twisted remains of the front two cars, one of which had been smashed to less than half its normal width, using cutters and ladders to get inside.
Railway officials said that calculations had shown that a train could derail if it were traveling at nearly twice the speed limit at the site where the accident occurred.
Passenger Tatsuya Akashi, who had been on his way to work, told public broadcaster NHK it felt as if the train had speeded up as it went around a curve.
"I thought there were some strange swings, and then the train derailed. No one knew what happened and everyone kept screaming," he said.
It was the worst train accident in Japan since 1963 when about 160 people were killed in a multiple train collision at Yokohama, near Tokyo.
OVER-SHOT STATION
"There was no side to the car any more, and bleeding people were crawling out. I heard others screaming 'it hurts, it hurts,"' a woman in her 20s told NHK.
Soldiers from Japan's Self-Defense Forces were sent to the scene to help with rescue efforts.
Operator West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) said the cause of the derailment was under investigation but it confirmed that the train had over-shot the station at its previous stop.
"The priority for now is to rescue the passengers," West Japan Railway President Takeshi Kakiuchi told a news conference.
Company officials said the train's driver was a 23-year-old man with 11 months experience who had over-shot another station last year. His fate was unknown.
Satoru Sone, a professor at Kogakuin University, told NHK that the over-run might have indicated a problem with the brakes.
"Then, when they tried to put on the emergency brakes, the wheels could have locked," he added.
Officials said the speed limit at the site of the accident was 70 km (44 miles) per hour. Calculations showed derailments were possible at a speed of 133 km per hour, they said, although they did not know how fast the train had been going.
"The train over-ran a stop at the previous station and so it backtracked," a visibly shaken man in his 20s, his face bloodied, told NHK. "So I guess the driver was in a hurry because the train was running late.
"The train was moving so fast, we hit a turn and I didn't think we'd make it," he added.
Japanese trains generally have a good safety record.
In Japan's last major accident, in March 2000, five people were killed and 33 were hurt when a Tokyo subway train ripped away the side of a carriage of an oncoming train that had derailed in its path during rush hour.
In May 1991, 42 people were killed and more than 600 injured in a crash in Shigaraki, western Japan.
Shares in JR West closed down 3.6 percent in a slightly higher overall market.
