WAKAYAMA – A truck driver was arrested Monday in connection with a train derailment earlier this month in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture.

The derailment was caused when logs fell onto the tracks from the driver’s truck after it had overturned in a crash on an overpass.

Wakayama Prefectural Police said they arrested Hiroshi Domae, 42, on charges including overloading a vehicle and professional negligence resulting in injury.

The derailment occurred on the morning of June 2, when a rapid service train on the JR Kisei Line ran into the logs. Seventeen people on the train, as well as the driver of a minicar that collided with the truck, were injured.

The truck had been carrying 50 logs weighing a total of 38 tons, exceeding its maximum load of 23 tons, when it overturned, investigative sources said earlier.

Police were also investigating Wakayama-based transport firm Haraike Unso, the owner of the truck.