Five years ago, high school students were caught in an avalanche during mountaineering training in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, killing eight people. , The three claimed their innocence, saying, ``The avalanche was unforeseeable.''

In March 2017, high school mountaineering clubs gathered for mountaineering training at Mt. of students were injured.



Three teachers, Shuichi Inose (56), Hisao Sugamata (53), and Hironori Watanabe (59), who were responsible for leading the students and managing safety in the accident, have been charged with professional negligence resulting in death and injury. .



At the first trial held at the Utsunomiya District Court on the 25th, the three said, "I could not have predicted the avalanche at all," and all claimed innocence.



In the opening statement, the prosecution said, ``The three had extensive mountain climbing experience, and knew that there was a risk of an avalanche occurring on a steep slope with sparse vegetation and fresh snow. "We didn't collect information such as this. If we had collected information in the morning, we could have easily predicted that there was a risk of an avalanche."



The next trial will be held on December 20th.

How the defendant looks in court

The three defendants entered the courtroom in black suits and sat side by side to hear the prosecutor read out the indictment.



Teacher Shuichi Inose, who was the first to testify, said at the beginning of the denial of the accusation whether to admit the charges, "I once again apologize to my students, colleagues, bereaved families, injured students, teachers, and families who died in this accident. I'm sorry," and bowed deeply to the bereaved family behind the prosecutor's seat.

He then claimed his innocence, stating that he "didn't expect an avalanche at all when training began."



After this, teachers Hisao Sugamata and Hironori Watanabe also claimed their innocence.

Bereaved family "The long-awaited trial has finally begun"

One of the bereaved family members, Mr. Okukatsu, lost his eldest son, Mr. Koki, who was in the first year of high school at the time, in an avalanche accident.



In an interview with NHK on the 20th of this month before the first trial, Katsu said, "Even now, five years later, I feel like I had a son just the other day. From the moment I woke up in the morning, I thought, 'I don't have a son today either. I think that something is wrong," he said.



Katsu wants the teachers to admit their guilt and apologize in this criminal trial, saying, "They have not appeared in civil mediation or civil trials so far, and I hope they will tell us something about the accident. There was nothing wrong with this accident, and I think they should explain to the public what was wrong with this accident and why it happened."



After that, he said, "I don't care if you can honestly expect it now, so I want you to firmly admit your guilt and apologize. And I want you to settle this accident as soon as possible."



After the first trial, Katsu responded to reporters' inquiries, saying, "I feel that the trial that I wanted has finally begun. I was prepared that the three teachers would not admit their guilt, but I felt angry. I believe that having the three of us take responsibility for what happened at the time and quickly bring this accident to a close will help prevent future accidents."

Accident history

The accident occurred in March 2017 during a training session in which seven high school mountaineering clubs, including Otawara High School, participated.

According to a report compiled by the verification committee of the Tochigi Prefectural Board of Education, three teachers had a meeting and canceled the originally planned mountain climbing because snow from the previous night was confirmed in the morning of the day. , The training was continued by changing to "Russell" that advances through deep snow.

During this exercise, students were caught in an avalanche on the slope.



Three years after the accident, some of the bereaved families filed for civil mediation, demanding a sincere apology and compensation from the prefecture and the three teachers.

The prefectural government acknowledged that the prefectural government was responsible for compensation, but insisted that it was not the individual responsibility of the teacher who was leading the incident.



And in February this year, some of the bereaved families filed a lawsuit seeking compensation at the Utsunomiya District Court.