Toll in Japan train crash rises

As darkness fell, the official death toll stood at 94 and there was little hope for the 20 or so people still believed to be trapped inside the front carriage of the train, embedded in the ground-floor car park of an apartment building.

No survivors have been found since early Tuesday when three people were extracted from the twisted mass of metal.

"The front carriage has been crushed to a fraction of its normal length, so we are continuing this work with very little hope," said a fire department official.

Rescue teams used ultrasound equipment to check for heart beats in the crumpled carriage, but there was no sign of life.

Black-clad mourners sobbed at funerals of relatives and friends while anxious families of the missing waited for news at a gymnasium that had been used as a makeshift morgue.

"I would like to apologise for this. My heart aches," Shojiro Nanya, chairman of train operator West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) told reporters Wednesday.

"I would really like to apologise for this accident."

Nanya is one of three company executives expected to resign to take responsibility for the disaster.

Police raided JR West's offices Tuesday looking for clues on the cause of the crash, which occurred as the packed commuter train rounded a tight curve just after the morning rush hour.

Investigators have said one cause could have been excessive speed after the train's driver fell more than a minute behind schedule -- a significant delay in a country where commuters have grown to rely on train timetables almost to the second.