SHIGA (TR) – A vehicle crushed a man against a concrete wall in Ritto City after a dealer revved up its engine for a customer and lost control of it, reports Nippon News Network (April 2).
At around 2 p.m. on Saturday, the salesman, 29, of dealer Audi Ritto, was revving up the car to demonstrate the engine’s sound when it took off from the parking lot and smashed through the dealer’s fence, crushing the victim against the concrete fencing of an opposing home.
The victim, 44-year-old Noriyuki Hashimoto, who lives in the home and was tending to his garden at the time, was rushed to a hospital in an unconscious state with serious injuries, according to NHK (April 1).
The salesman told Shiga police he “wanted the customer to hear the car’s engine, so I ended up mistakenly stepping on the accelerator while it was in gear.”
Police are investigating the circumstances of the case, believing the worker made a mistake and suddenly accelerated onto the street.
Hashimoto’s mother told Nippon News Network that her son was cutting a tree at the time of the incident. “He was crushed between the concrete blocks and the car that flew in from above, so he said, ‘Hurry, please pull me out, I’ve been crushed,’” Hashimoto’s mother said.
