TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have issued an apology to the family of an elderly woman after a bone fragment from her corpse was left at a garbage station in Toshima Ward following her suicide, reports NHK (Aug. 4).
On July 26, the woman, aged in her 80s, was struck and killed by a train on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line at a railway crossing in an apparent suicide.
Following the incident, the woman’s body was taken to a hospital. However, a bone fragment that had been placed in a bag was deposited at a garbage station by an officer from the traffic division of the Mejiro Police Station.
In such cases, it is required for bone fragments to be sent to a morgue. “Because it was a small bone, it was mistakenly recognized as insignificant and left behind,” a representative of the police said.
After a different police officer noticed that the bag was missing, it was found inside a waste disposal truck. However, a tear in the bag had caused the bone fragment to fall out. The bone was not located.
On August 3, upper-level members of the Tokyo police issued an apology to the family of the woman, who lived near the crossing.
“From now, we will endeavor, through education and training, to prevent a recurrence of this improper instance,” a representative of the police is quoted.
