Japan rail deaths 'may be crime'
 |  Police examine trains at the site of the crash. |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 The driver of Monday's train crash in Japan has not been found, while the search for survivors continues. CNN's Atika Shubert reports. (April 26)
|
|
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Investigators looking into the most deadly train accident in Japan in 40 years say they were treating the crash as "possible criminal negligence."
The investigators said Tuesday they had searched several railway offices, seized documents and questioned a conductor who was supervising the inexperienced train driver, who has still not been found.
Ninety people are known to have died and another 456 people were injured, according to Japanese police.
A day after the deadly crash, rescuers pulled three more survivors out of the crumpled wreckage but said they did not expect to find anyone else alive.
Japanese police searched several offices of Japan Rail West, taking away records. Investigators are focusing on the speed of the train and the inexperienced young driver at its helm, a new employee who was 23 years old and had 11 months of experience.
Police said they had been able to question the conductor of the train, a man with 15 years experience who was in charge of the young driver. They did not disclose what they had learned.
Survivors, in broadcast interviews, said that the train was speeding as it rounded a curve. The survivors told Japan's national broadcaster NHK that the driver had overrun the previous station and had to back up the train. They said they believe he was trying to make up time.
Analysts said the cause of the crash is likely to be a combination of factors -- including a possible obstruction on the tracks.
"We hear there was a stone on the rail. We hear the train was speeding. There is also speculation that the construction of the train itself may have been faulty. There could be many reasons," one analyst told CNN.
"Overspeeding could be one possible cause, but there should also have been a system to stop or slow the train down."
The Japan Rail West tracks in the area are among the oldest in Japan and do not have an automatic breaking system that slows speeding trains. That feature is present on newer tracks.
Sorrowing families arrived at a gymnasium that has been turned into a make-shift morgue to claim the bodies of the dead.
One rescue official said a number of bodies remain in the heavily mangled wreckage of the train which derailed and ran into an apartment building.
Japanese commuters, who were shaken by the deadly wreck, had their confidence further shaken Tuesday when a commuter express train collided with a truck in a northern Tokyo suburb, derailing the first car of the train and slightly injuring the driver of the truck, police and railway officials said.
The accident took place in Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo about 12:48 p.m. (11:48 p.m. ET) after the semitrailer stalled at the Hatori Station crossing, police said. The driver of the truck jumped out and activated an emergency alarm, but the train was not able to stop in time.
Japan Rail East officials said the conditions of the train's conductor and passengers are being checked, but no serious injuries are expected to be found.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
