Three former officials of the Expoland amusement park in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, pleaded guilty July 14 in principle to negligence in connection with a roller coaster accident that killed 19-year-old Yoshino Kogawara and injured 19 other people.

The accident took place May 5, 2007, when the roller coaster Fujin Raijin II derailed.

Masanori Ito, 60, a former board member of Expoland, and Atsushi Tatebe, 65, who formerly headed the facilities and business department, allegedly neglected to perform regular maintenance checks.

They did not detect visible cracks in the coaster's axle and continued to operate the ride due to commercial considerations.

They were charged with professional negligence resulting in death and injury, and violating the building standards law for allegedly filing a report with the Suita Municipal Government in March 2007 falsely claiming the park conducted regular checks on the roller coaster.

The third defendant, Hiroshi Matsuda, 59, a former head of Expoland's engineering division, was charged with violating the building standards law in connection with the faked report.