The happened on August 17, 1949 when a passenger train hauled by a JNR Class C51 steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 (C51 133) derailed and overturned between Kanayagawa

Kanayagawa Station

is a train station in Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.- Adjacent stations :...

 and Matsukawa

Matsukawa Station

is a train station in Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.- Adjacent stations :...

 stations on the Tōhoku Main Line in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, killing three crew members. It was reported that the tracks had been sabotaged, which the government blamed on the Japanese Communist Party

Japanese Communist Party

The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...

 and the Japan National Railway Union. Twenty people were arrested and convicted but all were eventually acquitted. The perpetrators of the alleged sabotage were never found.

Reference

• Hirano, Keiji, "Archives detail '49 miscarriage of justice", Japan Times, December 2, 2009, p. 3.