49 dead as Japanese train derails

[Mat '64]

49 dead as Japanese train derails

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- In Japan's deadliest rail accident in more than 40 years, a commuter train went off the tracks during Monday morning rush hour outside Osaka in central Japan, killing 49 people and injuring more than 200 others, many seriously, authorities said.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/04/24/japan.trainsmash/index.html

[ssw9662]

:( :(
Hope the death toll stays at 49.

[Donna]

It's like at 56 or 57 now. Yahoo has a video of the aftermath. :(

Donna

[J]

73 fatalities. Engineer remains unaccounted for.

[ssw9662]

:( :(

BTW Looks like those are the types of cars Microsoft included in Train Simulator, Series 2000 I believe.

[J]

Coaches used in the US are built to higher crash standards than those used overseas. One of the challenges with Acela was taking the existing Alstom design and significantly increasing the weight. While this may have lead to problems such as cracking in the yaw damper bracket and now in the disc spokes, you only have to compare this accident with the high-energy collision on Metrolink at Glendale a few months ago to compare the outcome.

Here's another view: