Mitsubishi Motors investigated for fatal product design

The Knanagawa Prefectural Police on October 24 searched the main office of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. on charges of defects in product design and procedures that led to an accident causing deaths and injuries.

In the accident in Yokohama City in January 2002, a wheel came off a Mitsubishi-made trailer, hitting three pedestrians and killing one.

Mitsubishi held the user responsible for "poor service and maintenance".

The Asahi newspaper reported the accident as "unprecedented". Akahata suspected that it was caused by structural defects, and found out that there had been 32 cases of Mitsubishi wheels coming off.

Reporting on the investigation of MMC, Akahata on October 25 quoted the dead victim's husband as saying that his earnest wish is that the state and the manufacturer investigate the accident thoroughly to prevent similar ones from taking place. (end)