A fellow officer offers flowers to deceased Sgt. Kunihiko Miyamoto at Itabashi Police Station on Feb. 12. KYODO PHOTO

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Itabashi Police Station on the night of Feb. 12 to attend a viewing of the body of Police Sgt. Kunihiko Miyamoto and pay his respects. Abe also said a special award would be given for his honor, and expressed his condolences to Miyamoto's family.

"I'm proud of Mr. Miyamoto, who tried to save someone's life, both as the premier and as a Japanese," he told reporters, although he mistakenly repeatedly called Miyamoto as "Miyake" when responding to questions after the viewing.

Miyamoto, 53, had been in critical condition with a fractured skull, while the 39-year-old woman he saved was badly injured with hipbone fractures but without any serious threat to her life, the Tokyo Fire Department said.

The accident took place at around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 at a crossing near Tokiwadai Station on the Tobu Tojo Line.

Miyamoto, who was stationed at a nearby police box, was told by a passerby that a woman was on the train tracks.

He brought her to the police box, but she escaped and ran back to the crossing, according to police.

They said he followed her back to the tracks and was trying to pull her away when they were hit by an express train. The two were rushed to a hospital after the accident.

The police quoted the woman as saying, "I don't care if I die," when she was dragged from the tracks.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 17, 2007
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