High School Arranged Buses through Local Firm Also before Fatal Crash

Niigata, May 11 (Jiji Press)–A private high school in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, one of whose students was killed in a microbus crash last week said Sunday that it had arranged buses through Kanbara Tetsudo Co., a local bus operator, multiple times also in the past. The microbus carrying 20 member students of the soft tennis club of Hokuetsu High School in the city of Niigata crashed into a guardrail on the Ban-Etsu Expressway in the city of Koriyama in neighboring Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday, leaving 17-year-old Hiroto Inagaki dead and many other students injured. The microbus was rented from a car rental shop through Kanbara Tetsudo and driven by a man who does not have a commercial driving license. At a press conference held in the city of Niigata on Sunday, Koji Terao, a Hokuetsu High School teacher in charge of supervising the tennis club, said that he was not on board the microbus, which was packed with luggage, and that he therefore drove to the destination in his own car. He said: “I was unable to prevent the tragedy although I was in a position to take the students to the destination safely. I would like to offer my sincere apology.” Terao said that the club has prepared buses through Kanbara Tetsudo multiple times in the past and that bills sent from the company stipulated fees for “bus chartering” or “car rental and labor.” He said that he only checked “the total amounts of fees on the bills” and failed to confirm whether the vehicles were rented or chartered buses. The crashed bus had a white license plate. A vehicle with such a license plate is not authorized for use to transport passengers or cargoes for fees. Terao said that he did not confirm whether the microbus was a rented vehicle and what type of license plate it had, adding, “I did not check whether the driver belongs to Kanbara Tetsudo.” The teacher described the deceased victim as a friendly student, saying that he was kind to younger students. Earlier on Sunday, the school held a meeting with students’ parents to explain about the accident. A participant said the accident could have been prevented if Terao had been on board the bus, while another questioned his qualification as teacher. The Fukushima prefectural police department arrested the microbus driver, Tetsuo Wakayama, 68, on Thursday on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in death and injury. Over the accident, Kanbara Tetsudo has said that Hokuetsu High School had asked the company to secure a bus from a car rental shop as well as a driver. The school has given a different explanation, saying that it had asked the company to arrange a chartered bus. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]