Search for passengers continues after Japan rail crash
Rescuers today continued the search for two passengers they fear may still be trapped under the wreckage of a train that jumped its tracks in northern Japan on Christmas Day, killing at least five people.
All six cars of the train – reportedly travelling up to 62mph – derailed on Sunday in rural Yamagata prefecture, 180 miles north of Tokyo, during a sudden gust in a blizzard.
A team of 230 rescuers searched for survivors by using a crane to lift the second carriage away from the crash site after several passengers said they saw a woman in her 30s with her young daughter on the train – neither of whom have appeared among the dead or rescued.
Workers also used heavy machinery to slightly shift the wrecked first carriage, according to a Transport Ministry official.
Also today, the government announced it would aid localities hit by heavy snowfall and blizzards in recent weeks, which have triggered blackouts and killed at least 26 people in snow-related accidents.
