National News Court clears former JR chief in '05 derailment

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A former West Japan Railway Co. president was found not guilty Jan. 11 of professional negligence in connection with the 2005 train derailment in Hyogo Prefecture that killed 107 people and injured 562.

Ruling in favor of Masao Yamazaki, 68, who was fighting against a prison term of three years demanded by prosecutors, presiding Judge Makoto Okada of the Kobe District Court said the accident — the worst since the 1987 privatization of the nation's major rail networks — was not predictable.

The trial focused on whether Yamazaki knew the risks of an accident at the curve in Amagasaki and should have installed a safety feature there known as the Automatic Train Stop system, or ATS, which would have slowed speeding trains. (Kyodo News)

尼崎脱線事故、JR西前社長に無罪判決

乗客107人が死亡した2005年４月のＪＲ福知山線脱線事故で、業務上過失致死傷罪に問われたＪＲ西日本前社長、山崎正夫被告に対して、神戸地裁は無罪を言い渡した。

Shukan ST: JANUARY 20, 2012

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