The Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday a lower court's acquittal of three former presidents of West Japan Railway Co. over a 2005 derailment that killed 106 passengers and the driver in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.

Rejecting an appeal filed by lawyers who served as prosecutors in the case, the top court's Second Petty Bench, led by Justice Tsuneyuki Yamamoto, said the former JR West presidents were "not able to recognize that the curve at the site of the accident posed a high degree of danger."

A rapid service train on the JR Fukuchiyama Line derailed and crashed into a condominium building in Amagasaki during the morning rush hour on April 25, 2005, after failing to negotiate the tight bend in the track. The accident left 562 other people injured.