Murder Suspected for Girl Hit by Train in Central Japan

May 9, 2018

Niigata- An elementary school girl hit by a train on Monday in the central Japan city of Niigata is believed to have been murdered before the incident, police sources said Tuesday.

The Niigata prefectural police established a special investigation team to look into her death as a case of murder and abandonment of a body.

The girl was struck by a train on the Echigo Line of East Japan Railway Co. <9020>, or JR East, around 10:30 p.m. Monday (1:30 p.m. GMT). She was confirmed dead there.

Based on the situation of the body and the incident, the police concluded that the girl was left on the railway track after being murdered.

According to the team, the girl was identified as Tamaki Omomo, 7, a local elementary school second-grader.

Her mother reported to police around 5 p.m. Monday that her daughter had not returned home.

The train driver saw the girl lying on the track and hit the brakes, but could not stop the train in time.

An autopsy found that the cause of her death was suffocation and that she had died before being struck by the train.

No abnormalities were detected when an earlier train passed the area 10 minutes before the train hit the girl.

The police believe that her body was abandoned on the track during the 10 minutes.

The girl was seen walking with a friend shortly after 3 p.m. Monday on her way back home. Jiji Press