OSAKA (Kyodo) Outgoing West Japan Railway Co. President Masao Yamazaki on Saturday told victims of the 2005 train derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, that successive generations of JR West management are all responsible for the disaster.
"The responsibility lies with the past managements, and the current management that took over that responsibility must take it seriously," Yamazaki was quoted as saying by the company in a closed-door briefing with the victims at an Osaka hotel.
The company held meetings in the morning and in the afternoon. About 118 family members and victims attended the morning meeting, while 92 relatives of 52 victims participated in the afternoon session.
JR West officials offered apologies at the outset of the meetings and tried to explain for the first time its views on the causes of and background behind the accident, JR West said.
Ever since that fateful day in April when the commuter train jumped the tracks and wrapped itself around the corner of a condominium complex, killing 107 people and injuring 562 others, JR West has avoided explaining the cause of the horrific accident, which was widely blamed on its harsh training methods and super-tight timetables.