This vehicle hit a traffic signal after crashing into a group of mostly students Monday in Miyanojo, Kagoshima Prefecture.

MIYANOJO, Kagoshima Prefecture-One teenager died and a second was in a coma here Monday after a passenger car plowed onto a sidewalk, hitting a group of mostly junior high students who had just watched a long-distance relay race, police said.

Fourteen others suffered injuries, including the 32-year-old woman driving the car, a school teacher and a police officer.

The car struck the group as members walked along a roadside shortly after the race ended at 11 a.m.

Shiho Nagano, 14, died soon after being admitted unconscious to a hospital, police said. A second student remains in a coma.

A total of 67 students from Yamazaki Junior High School in the town's Yamazaki district had watched the foot race from the roadside.

After the car hit the students, it stopped when it smashed into a traffic signal, police said.

Police plan to question the driver, Emiko Yonemori, 32, a local resident, after she recovers from her injuries, which were described as serious. She is still unconscious.

The ekiden race was sponsored by local groups, including the prefectural government. The runners were making a five-day tour of the prefecture that began Saturday.

The remaining two days of the race were canceled.(IHT/Asahi: February 22,2005)