A 73-year-old man who rammed his car into pedestrians in downtown Miyazaki Wednesday had suffered an epileptic seizure in the past, his acquaintances said Thursday.
Miyazaki police are also aware of the medical records of the driver, Mitsugi Kawauchi, 73, from neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture. But it still remains unclear whether his health had anything to do with the accident, they said.
Police said Kawauchi was also suffering from dementia, and plan to ask his family why he came to Miyazaki from his home in Kagoshima Prefecture. Kawauchi used to live in Miyazaki with his family, according to acquaintances.
In the accident, two women were killed while five other people were injured, including the driver. Kawauchi apparently lost control of the minivehicle he was driving and struck several pedestrians on a sidewalk.
The women who were killed were identified as Midori Fujimoto, 66, and Kikue Takagi, 50, who both lived in the city, the police said. The four injured pedestrians are aged between 17 and 68 and from Tokyo and Miyazaki Prefecture.
After running along the sidewalk for about 700 meters, the car eventually overturned and came to a stop at an intersection west of JR Miyazaki Station. No one else was in the vehicle.
Meanwhile, NHK, citing police, reported Thursday morning that the driver at some point became unable to discern whether he was driving on a road or a sidewalk.
Police plan to further interview Kawauchi, who was hospitalized after sustaining severe injuries, they said.