Image courtesy of Namuwiki
■Train doors left open manually? The incident occurred on a JR Narita Line train. A male junior high school student is suspected of operating the emergency door cock inside a train stopped at a station, leaving the doors in a state where they could be opened manually.
The arrested student is a 14-year-old male junior high school student. A person who used the station on the day of the incident said, “There were four or five police cars, and the atmosphere was tense. There have been a lot of incidents on trains recently.”
Normally, the opening and closing of train doors is centrally managed by the conductor, but the emergency door cock is a device that allows passengers to open the doors manually in emergencies. In this case, with the emergency door cock operated, the train traveled from JR Monoi Station to Narita Airport Terminal 2 Station, four stations away. JR East Japan had reportedly consulted the police beforehand.
JR East Japan’s consultation: “The train door cock panel was operated approximately nine times between February and May of this year.” The male junior high school student was arrested by plainclothes police officers who were on alert after receiving a consultation from JR. The male junior high school student reportedly reached for the emergency door cock and fiddled with the inside of the cover. The student stated, “It was just a prank. I didn’t think it would turn into such a big deal.” Police are investigating, believing there is an accomplice. [TV Asahi NEWS]
