The key facts

  • A JR Hokkaido train collided with a bear and the first car derailed; there were no injuries
  • Passengers spent the night on the train, and in the morning taxis took them to the nearest stations
  • Over the year, damage caused by bears in Hokkaido exceeded 487 million yen, and from April to September nearly 30 people were injured

The collision and its consequences

On the Japanese island of Hokkaido, a passenger train collided with a bear while traveling toward the city of Wakkanai. After the collision, the first car derailed. This was reported by TASS, citing the company JR Hokkaido. No one was injured in the accident, but passengers had to spend the night on the train: according to the report, the driver feared that the bear might have been only wounded and could still pose a danger. In the morning, all passengers were provided with taxis to reach the nearest stations. Traffic on the section had not resumed as of the time of publication, and no timeline for its restoration was given.

Context: the worsening 'bear problem' in Hokkaido

The incident occurred against the backdrop of a deteriorating bear situation in Hokkaido over the past year: the predators are coming near people, destroying crops and orchards, causing damage to farmers that exceeded 487 million yen over the year. From the beginning of April to September of this year, nearly 30 people were injured as a result of bear attacks. Thus, the train collision is not an isolated case but part of a documented rise in conflicts between bears and humans in the region. Separately, Gazeta.Ru mentions that it was previously reported that freight train cars derailed and caught fire in the Urals — this is a separate incident, unrelated to the Japanese one.