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| - Fact Check: Did Japanese bullet train suffer similar fate as Vande Bharat? This 2018 photo has a dark story
After back-to-back damage suffered by Vande Bharat Express, social media users shared photos of a Japanese bullet train that sustained damage after allegedly colliding with an animal. India Today AFWA's investigation checks these claims.
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India Today Fact Check
This June 2018 photo shows how a bullet train in Japan was damaged after a man allegedly died by suicide on its tracks.
The journey for the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express has not been a cakewalk. This made-in-India high-tech train suffered damage twice on its inaugural week after colliding with cattle. There were also reports of a jammed wheel. This series of unfortunate events has led to many making fun of the train.
In response to this, many shared the photo of a Japanese bullet train that sustained damage after allegedly colliding with an animal. Those sharing this photo on social media claimed that when a bullet train hit an animal in Japan and was damaged as a result of it (a fate similar to the Vande Bharat Express), no one there chose to mock it.
AFWA's investigation has found this claim was misleading. This four-year-old photo of a train does not show damage from colliding with an animal.
AFWA Probe
A reverse search of the viral photo led us to the stock photo website Getty Images. There, we came across a similar bird’s-eye view of the damaged bullet train with what looked like bloodstains on it.
The photo was titled: "Shinkasenb bullet train kills man on track." Per its description, this photo from June 14, 2018, shows a Nozomi shinkansen bullet train with cracks on its bonnet at JR Shin-Shimonoseki Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan. The train hit and killed a man on the tracks between Hakata and Kokura stations in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Subsequent refined searches led us to a Japanese media report from June 15, 2018, that featured the viral photo. Per the report, a train bound for Tokyo hit a 52-year-old man inside a tunnel in the city of Kitakyushu, about 17 kilometres from Kokura Station. Police believe the man died by suicide. The report added that the train’s bonnet was cracked in the incident. However, none of the roughly 200 passengers on the train was injured.
Another report in The Japan Times said that following the incident, the Japanese government instructed the West Japan Railway Corporation to investigate the matter. Thus, it’s clear that this 2018 photo shows a bullet train that sustained damage after a man stepped in its way — not animals.
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