Police officers enter the building of a ski resort operator in Otaru, Hokkaido, on Jan. 6, 2026 for a search in connection with a fatal accident at the ski resort’s moving walkway. (Kyodo)
SAPPORO (Kyodo) — Hokkaido police on Tuesday searched the office of a ski resort operator following the death of a 5-year-old boy on a moving walkway at the resort late last month.
Sasson Co. in Otaru was searched on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death over the Dec. 28 accident. The company has said no member of staff was stationed at the moving walkway, which links the parking lot and the slopes, even though some users had fallen on it in the past.
The police said Hinata Goto, who lived in neighboring Sapporo, fell near the exit of the walkway. His right arm and clothing ended up being caught in the mechanism and he died from asphyxiation after his clothing tightened around his neck.
The travelator is supposed to stop automatically if a foreign object is caught in the machinery and police are investigating why the function failed.
AloJapan.com