TOKYO — A power outage that disrupted train service on the Japanese island of Kyushu was caused by a slug. The mollusk was electrocuted when it made its way into a trackside device, an investigation has concluded.
The rail operator on Japan’s southernmost island, JR Kyushu, announced the findings on Sunday. The company had to cancel 26 trains and had other service disrupted, delaying about 12,000 passengers, when the outage occurred on May 30, according to an Agence France-Presse report.
A spokesman for the company was not sure if the event was a first but called it rare.
“We often have trouble with deer colliding with trains but not a problem with slugs,” he said.
