Kobe city bus strikes 8 people on pedestrian crossing, 2 dead



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A public bus struck pedestrians on Sunday at a pedestrian crossing near a major railway station in the city of Kobe, in western Japan, causing two deaths and six injuries.

The city 's fire department said it received an emergency call around 2 pm. about the accident involving a bus run by the city on a road near JR Sannomiya Station.

"The bus suddenly accelerated and hit people," said 64-year-old driver Fumio Ono, who was arrested on the spot, according to local police.

Ono also said that he had pressed the brake pedal, while explaining that the accident had occurred after dropping off all his pbadengers at a bus stop located near the scene location, according to the police.

He was also reportedly stopped at a queue before the pedestrian crossing, but the bus did not make it.

The accident occurred on a prefectoral road with four lanes on each side in opposite directions in a large shopping district of Kobe. The bus stopped after hitting the divider of the road.

Police said that a man and a woman, both suspected of being in their twenties, died in the accident.

"We sincerely apologize for the fact that our municipal bus caused a terrible accident," said at a press conference Naoki Naito, chief executive of the Kobe Transportation Bureau.

Pedestrians at the time of the accident were shaken.

"I can not believe that such an accident has occurred," said Kaito Otoma, a 20-year-old student, who was crossing the road with other people when he saw the bus to move slowly towards them despite the red light.


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Otoma stated that he had gone away quickly and was saved, but that the young woman in front of him had been hit and had become motionless.

The driver then got off the bus and spoke frantically on his cell phone, according to the student.

"If I had made a misstep, I would have been a victim as well," Otoma said.

The fatal accident occurred just two days after a car struck a security fence and crossed three checkpoints in Tokyo's busy Ikebukuro district, killing a girl and her mother , who made the headlines.

The car was driven by an 87-year-old man and the Tokyo police estimate that the accident, which also injured eight other people, including the man, was caused by an accidental collision with the aircraft. 39; accelerator.

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