「悲しみと苦しみの２年」　発生時刻に黙とう―死亡母子の遺族・池袋暴走

　東京・池袋で高齢男性が運転する車が暴走し、松永真菜さん＝当時（３１）＝と娘の莉子ちゃん＝同（３）＝が死亡した事故は、１９日で発生から２年を迎えた。真菜さんの夫拓也さん（３４）は黙とう後、「悲しみと苦しみの中で、葛藤しながら生きた２年間だった」と涙をこらえながら語った。
　拓也さんは発生時刻の午後０時２３分、現場近くの公園にある慰霊碑の前で黙とうした。事故当時を振り返り、「遺体を見た時は本当に無残で、顔を見てお別れができなかった。こんな理不尽なことはないと思った」と語った。
　拓也さんは現在、交通事故撲滅に向けた活動に取り組んでいる。「２人への愛と感謝があるからこそ、２人の命を無駄にしたくない」と話し、「（交通事故で）当たり前の日常が奪われない社会にしたい」と訴えた。
　事故は２０１９年４月１９日に東京都豊島区の都道で発生。旧通産省工業技術院の元院長飯塚幸三被告（８９）がブレーキと間違えてアクセルを踏み続けたまま走行し、横断歩道に突っ込むなどして真菜さん母子を死亡させ、９人に重軽傷を負わせたとされる。自動車運転処罰法違反（過失運転致死傷）罪に問われた飯塚被告は車に異常があったとして、公判で無罪を主張している。（2021/04/19-20:31）

Takuya Matsunaga, 34, who lost his wife and daughter in a high-profile accident involving a runaway car driven by an elderly man, expressed his grief on Monday, exactly two years after the tragedy.
   "I have spent the two years with sorrow and pain," Matsunaga said, holding back tears, after he offered a silent prayer at a monument established at a park near the accident site at 12:23 p.m. (3:23 a.m. GMT), the exact time when the crash occurred on April 19, 2019, in the busy Ikebukuro district in Tokyo's Toshima Ward.
   In the accident, the car driven by Kozo Iizuka, then 87, a former senior Japanese government official, went out of control, hitting Matsunaga's wife Mana, then 31, and their daughter, Riko, then 3, to death. Nine other people were injured in the accident.
   "It was cruel to see the bodies of Mana and Riko, so I couldn't see their faces to bid farewell," Matsunaga recalled. "I thought that there is nothing more outrageous than this," he said.
   Since the accident, Matsunaga has been engaged in activities to eliminate car accidents. He said: "Because of my love and appreciation for the two, I don't want their sacrifice to be wasted. I want to realize a society where no one will be deprived of their daily lives (due to car accidents)."