Colleges help survivors of train wreck

OSAKA (Kyodo) Kinki-region universities and colleges have been making efforts to help students who survived the deadly April 25 train crash in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.

West Japan Railway co. workers Friday repair the cable system at the site of the deadly train crash April 25 in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, as part of efforts to resume full service on the Fukuchiyama Line.

Twenty-two of the 107 people killed in the accident were students at universities and colleges in the region, and more than 60 students are still being treated for injuries.

"Nothing is sadder than to lose students with bright futures ahead of them," Osaka Sangyo University said in a letter to West Japan Railway Co. President Takeshi Kakiuchi.

The university lost two students in the accident, while 11 others sustained injuries, ranging from light to serious. About 800 students use the JR Fukuchiyama Line to get to the school.

Osaka Sangyo sent professors to the hospitals where the injured students were being treated.

It has also been considering allowing students with posttraumatic stress disorder to drive to the university. Students normally are not allowed to park on campus.

Three students from Doshisha University, based in Kyoto, were killed and 25 others injured in the accident.

The university formed a team of counselors that decided to waive tuition for the injured students while they are recuperating. Professors also plan to give them special consideration when grading their academic performances.

The university is also providing advice to students thinking of renting apartments near the campus so they can avoid taking the trains.

Toshio Tsuchiyama, a public relations official at Kobe-based Konan University, said Konan lost two students who were job-hunting.

"We have been talking with students who have been traumatized by the shock of their fellow students' deaths," Tsuchiyama said.

Kinki University in Higashi-Osaka said three of its students were killed and six others injured.

The university plans to refund to the families the tuition of students killed in the accident.

"It is an unprecedented decision, but we have considered the seriousness of the accident," a university official said.

The Associated Press West Japan Railway Co. began compensation talks Friday with survivors of the April 25 train wreck in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, that killed 107 people and injured about 540 others.

After meeting with several of the people injured when the speeding train jumped the tracks and crashed into an apartment building, JR West officials agreed to pay their medical expenses and damages.