Bus Crash Kills Student in Northeastern Japan; Driver Arrested

Gosen, Niigata Pref., May 7 (Jiji Press)--A 17-year-old male high school student was killed in a microbus crash that happened on the Ban-Etsu Expressway in the city of Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Wednesday.

The incident involved multiple vehicles, including the microbus, leaving a total of 20 people injured.

The deceased victim, Hiroto Inagaki, from the city of Niigata, the capital of the namesake prefecture bordering Fukushima, was among the passengers of the microbus, which crashed into a guardrail on the expressway's inbound lane near the Bandaiatami Interchange. Inagaki was thrown into the outbound lane and was confirmed dead at the scene. He died due to blood loss.

The Fukushima prefectural police department arrested the male driver of the microbus, 68-year-old Tetsuo Wakayama from the city of Tainai in Niigata Prefecture, on Thursday on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in death and injury.

Wakayama admitted to the allegations, telling the police, "I was too optimistic about the speed." He is suspected of letting the microbus crash into items including the guardrail around 7:40 a.m. Wednesday, leaving Inagaki dead and 17 others injured.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]