GOSEN, NIIGATA PREF. ¨C A 17-year-old male high school student was killed in a microbus crash that happened on the Ban-Etsu Expressway in the city of Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday.
The incident involved multiple vehicles, including the microbus, leaving a total of 20 people, including the?driver of the microbus, injured.
The deceased victim, Hiroto Inagaki, from the city of Niigata, was among the passengers of the microbus, which crashed into a guardrail on the expressway¡¯s inbound lane near the Bandaiatami Interchange. Inagaki was thrown into the outbound lane and was confirmed dead at the scene. He died due to blood loss.
The Fukushima Prefectural Police arrested the male driver of the microbus, 68-year-old Tetsuo Wakayama from the city of Tainai in Niigata Prefecture on Thursday on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in death and injury.
Wakayama admitted to the allegations, telling the police, ¡°I was too optimistic about the speed.¡± He is suspected of letting the microbus crash into items including the guardrail at around 7:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
The guardrail is at a gentle right curve near the interchange, and the speed limit on the section is 80 kilometers per hour.
Wakayama told the police that the microbus was driving at 90-100 kph at the time of the accident. He does not have a commercial driving license.
The microbus was carrying 20 members of the soft tennis club of Hokuetsu High School, a private school in the city of Niigata. All of them other than Inagaki were taken to a hospital. None of them are in a life-threatening condition.
Following the microbus crash, a truck crashed into the bent guardrail, leaving two people with minor injuries.
The police also raided Kanbara Tetsudo, a bus operator in the Niigata city of Gosen, on Friday over its involvement in the case.
According to the firm, its marketing employee rented the microbus from a car rental company under the name of Kanbara Tetsudo after receiving a request from the high school.
Wakayama is not an employee of Kanbara Tetsudo. The marketing employee asked him through an acquaintance to drive the bus. The driver¡¯s license presented to the rental company was that of the employee.
On Thursday morning, four officials from the transport ministry¡¯s Hokuriku-Shinetsu District Transport Bureau conducted an on-site inspection of Kanbara Tetsudo, interviewing staff about the circumstances related to the accident.
Hokuetsu High School officials said Thursday that the school requested a bus service but did not ask the company to rent a bus and get someone from outside the company to drive it.?
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