A crowded Japanese commuter train derailed on Monday and slammed into an apartment building, killing at least 56 people and injuring hundreds in the country's worst rail accident in more than 40 years. Workers struggled into the night to rescue people trapped in crumpled wreckage and twisted metal in the first-floor car park of the building. "From what rescuers have been able to see, at least four people are believed alive," a fire department spokesman said. "But the train is very badly crushed and it's hard to tell much more than that. We cannot deny that others may be in there."
Officials said they did not know the cause of the crash, which took place shortly after the morning rush hour. But passengers said they felt the train, which had been late leaving the previous station, had been moving faster than normal.
The fire department spokesman said 56 had died. More than 400 people were taken to hospital.
Five of the train's seven cars derailed in the accident. The train was carrying about 580 passengers when it crashed into the building in Amagasaki, slightly west of Osaka, which was just six meters from the railway track.
Rescuers in hard hats clustered near the twisted remains of the front two cars, one of which had been smashed to less than half its normal width, using cutters and ladders to get inside.
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