东武铁道周三在一份中期报告中表示，在8月发生的一起事故中，一名监督人员未能提前指示铁路瞭望员的位置和疏散地点，违反了内部安全规程，该事故发生在栃木县鹿沼市一车站的除草作业期间，造成四名工人死亡。该报告当天已提交给国土交通省关东地方整备局。
A supervisor failed to give advance instructions on the positions of railway lookouts and evacuation locations, in violation of internal safety rules, in an August accident that killed four workers during weeding operations at a station in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, Tobu Railway said in an interim report Wednesday. The report was submitted to the Kanto District Transport Bureau of the transport ministry the same day.
根据东武铁道的说法，其安全规程要求由东武建设（东武铁道的关联公司，总部位于栃木县日光市）的一名作业监督人员担任现场监督，并指示铁路瞭望员站立位置以及工人疏散地点。据中期报告称，该监督人员没有沿铁路轨道移动作业的经验。
According to Tobu Railway, its safety rules required a work supervisor from Tobu Construction, a Tobu Railway affiliate based in Nikko, Tochigi, to serve as the site supervisor and instruct the railway lookouts where to stand and workers where to evacuate. According to the interim report, the supervisor had no experience in operations involving moving along railway tracks.
因此，该监督人员实际上将指示工作交给了恰好在现场的东武建设一名上级（尽管该上级当时处于非值班状态），而自己则在拍照留存记录。
The supervisor therefore effectively left instructions to a superior at Tobu Construction, who happened to be at the site despite being off duty, while the supervisor took photographs for record-keeping purposes.
事故于8月20日上午10点45分左右，在东武铁道日光线新鹿沼站发生，一列开往东京浅草站的“Spacia X”特急列车撞击并造成四名在铁轨上除草的工人死亡。
The accident occurred at Shin-Kanuma Station of Tobu Railway’s Nikko Line around 10:45 a.m. on Aug. 20, when a Spacia X limited express train bound for Tokyo’s Asakusa Station struck and killed four workers clearing weeds on railway tracks.
共有10人参与作业，其中包括监督人员在内的7人从事除草工作。安全规程规定应安排一名铁路瞭望员在作业现场附近，两名中继瞭望员在距离约300米的铁路道口附近。
A total of 10 people were involved in the work, with seven, including the supervisor, engaged in weeding. The safety rules called for one railway lookout to be positioned near the work site and two relay lookouts to be stationed near a railroad crossing about 300 meters away.
据中期报告称，事故发生前约5分钟，工人们移动到了上行站台下方靠近事故现场的区域。铁路瞭望员因距离列车到站时间很短而感到担忧，但因害怕因发表意见而被责骂，所以什么也没说。
About five minutes before the accident, the workers moved to an area near the accident site beneath the platform for inbound trains. The railway lookout was concerned because there was little time before the arrival of a train but did not say anything for fear of being scolded for voicing an opinion, according to the interim report.
事故发生时，两名铁路巡检员正在站台附近的铁路道口等待来自对面方向的出站列车。他们正在等待上级下达的指令，以便前往各自指定的位置，但却一直没有收到任何指令；显然，相关作业早已开始了。
At the time of the accident, the two relay lookouts were waiting at a railroad crossing near the platform for outbound trains in the opposite direction. They were waiting for instructions to take up their assigned positions but received none, and the work had apparently already begun.
随着列车的临近，其中一名巡检员通过无线电通知铁路道口的值班人员：“道口的栏杆已经放下。”铁路道口的值班人员也通过目视确认了这一情况，并通过警报声或其他方式提醒了正在作业的工人。虽然主管没有听到这个警告信号，但他注意到了即将到来的列车，因此巡检员和主管及时撤离了现场。
As the arrival time of the train approached, one of the relay lookouts notified the railway lookout by radio that the crossing gate had come down. The railway lookout also confirmed this visually and warned the workers with an alert sound or other means. The supervisor did not hear the signal but noticed the approaching train, and the lookouts and the supervisor were able to evacuate.
然而，主管的上级以及另外三名工人仍然留在原地（他们背对着站台），最终不幸被列车撞上了。
The superior of the supervisor and three workers, however, remained where they were with their backs to the platform and came into contact with the train.