Dementia woman fatally hit by train in Aichi
(Mainichi Japan)
TOKAI, Aichi -- A dementia woman was fatally hit by a train on railway tracks here on May 1, shortly after she was reported missing by her husband, police said.
The 73-year-old woman from Tokai, Aichi Prefecture, was run down by a four-car train on the Meitetsu Tokoname Line in the city at around 9:20 p.m. on May 1. The train was bound for Tokoname Station after departing from Kanayama Station.
Although the 25-year-old conductor of the train applied the brakes after noticing the woman standing alone on the railway tracks, it was too late for the train to make a halt.
According to Tokai Police Station, the woman's 76-year-old husband had called police at around 9 p.m. the same day, saying his dementia wife was missing.
While there is an approximately 50-centimeter-high fence near the accident site, investigators suspect that the woman climbed over the fence to enter the tracks.
The incident suspended train services on the Tokoname Line for about 90 minutes, affecting some 5,000 passengers. The line is operated by Nagoya Railroad Co.
