TOKYO: Four people died in Japan on Thursday after being hit by a train, authorities said, in a country renowned for its normally excellent rail safety record.
The incident involving four workers took place at Shin-Kanuma Station north of Tokyo, the fire department said.
"The four were confirmed dead," a fire department official told AFP.
Another official had said earlier that when emergency services arrived, three workers were still trapped under the train, while one was on the platform.
"Before being taken to hospital, all four of them were unconscious," he told AFP.
Emergency services were first called at 10:47 am (0147 GMT).
Nippon TV reported that the workers were removing weeds from around the train track.
Japanese railways have one of the best safety records in the world, with fatal accidents extremely rare due to high levels of maintenance and training, and use of advanced technology.
Famously there has never been a passenger fatality from a derailment or a collision on Japan's network of "shinkansen" bullet trains.