A 19-year-old student from Osaka Prefecture was fatally struck on the day of a university entrance exam by an alleged drunken driver early Wednesday morning in front of JR Koriyama Station in Fukushima Prefecture.
The victim, identified as Sara Yokomi, was taken to a hospital with severe head injuries but was later pronounced dead.
Koriyama police arrested the driver, 34-year-old company employee Ryohei Ikeda, at the scene on suspicion of negligent driving resulting in injury and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Ikeda, a resident of the city’s Showa district, admitted to the charges.
Yokomi had traveled from her home in the city of Minoo in Osaka Prefecture to take the exam. At around 6:35 a.m, she was crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk with a green light when Ikeda’s minicar ran a red light and struck her.
A breathalyzer test detected alcohol in Ikeda’s system above the legal limit.
Police are investigating the exact circumstances of the crash.
Translated by The Japan Times