One dead, four hurt after car ploughs into Zara shop in Tokyo
PUBLISHED : Monday, 17 August, 2015, 8:56am
UPDATED : Monday, 17 August, 2015, 2:29pm
Kyodo in Tokyo
Emergency workers attend the scene of the fatal incident in Tokyo on Sunday night. Photo: Kyodo
One person was killed and four others were injured when a car ran across the sidewalk and plowed into a branch of the Zara clothing chain in Tokyo on Sunday evening, police said.
Shoichiro Kaneko, a 53-year-old doctor from Tokyo’s Kita Ward, was arrested on suspicion of negligence resulting in injury while driving, they said. The incident occurred near Ikebukuro JR train station.
“I have no memory of ramming into the sidewalk,” Kaneko was quoted by the police as telling investigators. “I don’t remember what happened, maybe because I was tired and fell asleep.”
Toshiko Ebata, a 41-year-old pharmacist from Itabashi Ward who was initially listed in critical condition, died, according to the police. A man and three other women aged between their 20s and 70s were also injured but are not in life-threatening condition.
Kaneko’s cap smashed into the Zara outlet at the corner of an intersection at around 9.30pm after driving about 50 meters from his last stop, the police said. Before that, he had just driven out of an underground parking lot near Ikebukuro Station.
No sign of alcohol was detected in his breath and substance abuse is not believed likely, according to the police. A 22-year-old male witness said the car rammed into the shop after hitting people waiting for a traffic light.
In June 2014, a man under the influence of drugs drove into the sidewalk near the same station, killing a woman in her 20s and injuring several others.
