A Taiwanese man was killed yesterday morning when he was hit by a car on a walkway near a temple in the Japanese city of Nara, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The ministry confirmed reports of the accident in the Japanese media, which said that two pedestrians — a Taiwanese man, 62, and a Japanese man, 52, — were hit by a sedan on a walkway at Todaiji Temple at about 9:45am.
The two men were rushed to nearby hospitals, and the Taiwanese was later pronounced dead, having sustained severe head injuries, the reports said.
The Japanese was seriously injured and remained in hospital, they said.
The driver of the sedan, a 79-year-old man, was not injured and was later arrested, the reports said. As the owner of a shop on that section of the road, he was allowed to drive a vehicle along the walkway, the reports said.
Citing police, the reports said the driver told investigators that he had mistakenly stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.
The ministry said its Osaka office had received confirmation from Nara police that the victim who died in the accident was a Taiwanese citizen.
He was part of a tour group visiting Nara, the ministry said, not disclosing the identity of the deceased.
The ministry said its Osaka office had contacted the victim’s relatives and has offered them assistance in dealing with his death.
Taiwanese traveling in the southern-central region of Japan’s main island of Honshu can call the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Osaka at +81-90-8794-4568 in an emergency, the ministry said.
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