Roppongi Hills - Revolving Door Fatality

Revolving Door Fatality

The first year of operations was marred when a six-year-old boy, Ryo Mizokawa, was killed on March 26, 2004 after his head was crushed by revolving doors at the second-floor entrance to Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills complex. He had been visiting the complex with his mother from Osaka. It was discovered that the sensors were placed too high, and therefore, the boy was not "visible" to the safety system.

As a result of the accident, Mori Building Co., the operator of the building, agreed to pay the boy's family around 70 million yen ($715,330) in compensation and to undertake safety precautions to prevent similar incidents in the future. The automatic revolving doors were removed and replaced with automatic sliding doors.

Unknown to the authorities, the accident was preceded by 32 injuries related to the doors. An investigation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police into professional negligence by Mori Building Co. and the door's manufacturer, Sanwa Tajima Corp. resulted in the conviction of three former executives for professional negligence.

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