Ministry vows own probe on accidents

日本的某些制度必須直追先進國

BY ATSUSHI MATSUKAWA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN2009/1/10

Under fire for not swiftly looking into an elevator accident that killed a teenager in 2006, the infrastructure ministry has decided to immediately conduct its own investigations separately from police in future serious incidents, sources said.

Despite its jurisdiction over elevator safety, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has generally refrained from examining elevators that police seized as part of their investigations.

The change in the ministry's stance follows the suffocation death of high school student Hirosuke Ichikawa in June 2006.

Ichikawa, then 16, was exiting an elevator at a housing complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward when it suddenly began to rise, trapping him between the cage floor and the ceiling.

The Metropolitan Police Department seized the machinery as evidence and has since investigated the case on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.

But in the two and a half years since the incident, it still has not been able to press criminal responsibility.

Ichikawa's bereaved family complained about the ministry's failure to investigate the cause on its own, which prompted it to conduct its first examination of the machinery on Dec. 3 with police consent.

The ministry has not reached any clear conclusion on the cause, either.

According to experts, elevators are designed so they never move up or down when the doors are open. But such abnormal movements have been reported in accidents.

On Dec. 8, a 50-year-old woman in Kyoto was trapped by an elevator descending as she was stepping out. Her pelvis was fractured.

According to the ministry, four such cases have been reported in the past five years, killing one person and injuring two others.

The ministry now plans to ask for police cooperation in cases of a serious accident so its experts can examine the elevator immediately to determine the cause.

Should technical flaws be found that might affect other elevators, the ministry would swiftly take preventive measures nationwide, sources said.

Last June, the National Police Agency issued a notice instructing prefectural police departments to cooperate with a ministry investigation as long as it does not hinder their own activities.(IHT/Asahi: January 10,2009)