TOKYO — An express train entering a station in Japan hit and killed four people who were doing weed-control work on a railway track Thursday, officials said.
\n\nThe accident occurred at Shin-Kanuma Station, north of Tokyo, on the Tobu Nikko Line, and involved the Tokyo-bound Spacia express train, Tochigi prefectural police said.
\n\nThe four — three workers and a supervisor — were rushed to a hospital but later pronounced dead, according to police and train operator Tobu Railway Co.
\n\nSix other people at the site — two other workers, three on lookout duty and an on-site supervisor — were safe, Tobu Railway said. The group had been assigned to spray herbicide. About 50 passengers on the train were also uninjured.
\n\nRailway officials said it was unclear why the workers did not leave the site when the train was approaching, or what the lookout people were doing. They said they are cooperating with authorities investigating the cause of the accident.
\n\nThose on lookout duty are supposed to warn fellow workers of an approaching train and let them evacuate. They wave a flag to the train; then its driver sounds the horn to signal awareness and moves on with caution. Initial accounts…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/