'No sign of survivors'

2005-04-28 15:11

Tokyo - Rescue teams on Thursday called off the search for further victims and survivors from Japan's worst train wreck in four decades which claimed at least 106 lives, the fire department said on Thursday.

"The emergency rescue team has disbanded after we confirmed that there is no visible sign of survivors," said a fire department spokesperson in the western city of Amagasaki.

Another fire department official said a final check was made and the mangled steel of the commuter train's front carriage handed over to police after the four-day, round-the-clock rescue operation.

"The search for victims is finished. Police are now doing an investigation and our rescue operation is suspended unless the police need our help," the official said.

The debris still has pieces of bodies which could be verified for the final death toll.

More than 450 people were also injured when the commuter train flew off the tracks Monday and crashed into an apartment building.

There have been repeated allegations that 23-year-old driver Ryujiro Takami, whose body was found in the debris on Thursday, had been speeding after falling a minute and a half late due to overrunning a station.

- AFP