[news] Searchers undeterred by winter cold
Eight months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and as temperatures drop with the onset of winter, police continue to search for the missing, having pledged to return as many people as possible to their families.
About 1,800 police have been dispatched from other prefectures to help police from disaster-hit Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures with the search and other duties.
Victims' remains are being discovered at a much slower pace, but the police persevere and diligently pursue their mission.
The March 11 disaster claimed the lives of 802 people in Otsuchicho, Iwate Prefecture, and 520 people from the town remain missing.
On the morning of Nov. 5, about 15 Mie prefectural police entered a water conduit two to three meters wide in the town, wearing rubber overalls that covered them completely from the chest down. Using shovels, they searched through the 10-centimeterdeep mud at the bottom of the conduit.
"If there are any skeletal remains, they've probably turned the color of tree branches. Let's dig carefully," said the team's leader, 33-year-old assistant police inspector Hideki Maeda.
The temperature that morning was as low as 4.9 C. The cold of the mud and water could be felt through the policemen's tall boots, and their entire legs felt heavy.
After working in a crouched position in a tunnel with a road running overhead, some of the police sat on the road for a break, wearing exhausted expressions.
Rubber shoes, bento box lids, pots--the search continued until sundown and turned up many such items from daily life. However, no remains of missing people were found.
October was the first month since March 11 in which no autopsies of disaster victims were conducted in Iwate Prefecture.
"My daughter, who was born in January, doesn't really remember me," said 36-year-old assistant police inspector Takuya Kojima, who was on his 10th dispatch since the disaster. "That's nothing, though, when we think of the feelings of survivors trying to find the remains of their loved ones."
Dropping temperatures in the sea also are hindering search efforts. At 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, about 20 Miyagi prefectural police began search operations centered on the Kirigasaki district of Onagawacho. Five boarded a chartered fishing boat and headed to a point about 50 meters off the coast.
A strong wind was blowing from the north, and the police felt cold despite their jackets.
A robot with a camera was put into the sea to check the conditions underwater, and a monitor on the boat showed such items as fishing gear, bags and rubber gloves.
The water temperature was 12 C. Visibility was better than usual, but assistant police inspector Katsuomi Kato, 48, said as he stared into the monitor: "The water's cold. We can only dive for about 30 minutes."
Four policemen in wet suits were waiting nearby in a rubber boat, but they were not called on to dive this day.
"It's frustrating," said assistant police inspector Kei Sato, 45, who directed the group and also participated in operations after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe. "But we won't give up. We'll keep searching."
===
Marathon mission goes on
As of Thursday, about 5,400 police in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were engaged in searching for the missing and activities such as directing traffic at intersections where traffic lights were washed away.
The approximately 1,800 of this number who were dispatched from other prefectures has dropped from the 3,000 to 4,000 present in April and May, but the cooperation of outside police has continued for longer than in the wake of the 1995 Kobe quake. Police from other prefectures returned home about 6-1/2 months after the 1995 disaster.
According to the National Police Agency, the search for the missing continues primarily along coastal areas, but the four bodies discovered so far this month were found in the ocean by such people as fishermen, not the police.
DNA tests are being conducted on bodies that have been recovered, but about 800 are yet to be identified.
In addition, about 700 police are involved in work around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Their activities include patrolling the no-entry zone within 20 kilometers of the plant and surrounding areas, and escorting evacuees on temporary visits to their homes.
Source
As of November 9th, the death toll from the disaster was 15,835, with 3,664 people still missing.
Source
About 1,800 police have been dispatched from other prefectures to help police from disaster-hit Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures with the search and other duties.
Victims' remains are being discovered at a much slower pace, but the police persevere and diligently pursue their mission.
The March 11 disaster claimed the lives of 802 people in Otsuchicho, Iwate Prefecture, and 520 people from the town remain missing.
On the morning of Nov. 5, about 15 Mie prefectural police entered a water conduit two to three meters wide in the town, wearing rubber overalls that covered them completely from the chest down. Using shovels, they searched through the 10-centimeterdeep mud at the bottom of the conduit.
"If there are any skeletal remains, they've probably turned the color of tree branches. Let's dig carefully," said the team's leader, 33-year-old assistant police inspector Hideki Maeda.
The temperature that morning was as low as 4.9 C. The cold of the mud and water could be felt through the policemen's tall boots, and their entire legs felt heavy.
After working in a crouched position in a tunnel with a road running overhead, some of the police sat on the road for a break, wearing exhausted expressions.
Rubber shoes, bento box lids, pots--the search continued until sundown and turned up many such items from daily life. However, no remains of missing people were found.
October was the first month since March 11 in which no autopsies of disaster victims were conducted in Iwate Prefecture.
"My daughter, who was born in January, doesn't really remember me," said 36-year-old assistant police inspector Takuya Kojima, who was on his 10th dispatch since the disaster. "That's nothing, though, when we think of the feelings of survivors trying to find the remains of their loved ones."
Dropping temperatures in the sea also are hindering search efforts. At 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, about 20 Miyagi prefectural police began search operations centered on the Kirigasaki district of Onagawacho. Five boarded a chartered fishing boat and headed to a point about 50 meters off the coast.
A strong wind was blowing from the north, and the police felt cold despite their jackets.
A robot with a camera was put into the sea to check the conditions underwater, and a monitor on the boat showed such items as fishing gear, bags and rubber gloves.
The water temperature was 12 C. Visibility was better than usual, but assistant police inspector Katsuomi Kato, 48, said as he stared into the monitor: "The water's cold. We can only dive for about 30 minutes."
Four policemen in wet suits were waiting nearby in a rubber boat, but they were not called on to dive this day.
"It's frustrating," said assistant police inspector Kei Sato, 45, who directed the group and also participated in operations after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe. "But we won't give up. We'll keep searching."
===
Marathon mission goes on
As of Thursday, about 5,400 police in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were engaged in searching for the missing and activities such as directing traffic at intersections where traffic lights were washed away.
The approximately 1,800 of this number who were dispatched from other prefectures has dropped from the 3,000 to 4,000 present in April and May, but the cooperation of outside police has continued for longer than in the wake of the 1995 Kobe quake. Police from other prefectures returned home about 6-1/2 months after the 1995 disaster.
According to the National Police Agency, the search for the missing continues primarily along coastal areas, but the four bodies discovered so far this month were found in the ocean by such people as fishermen, not the police.
DNA tests are being conducted on bodies that have been recovered, but about 800 are yet to be identified.
In addition, about 700 police are involved in work around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Their activities include patrolling the no-entry zone within 20 kilometers of the plant and surrounding areas, and escorting evacuees on temporary visits to their homes.
Source
As of November 9th, the death toll from the disaster was 15,835, with 3,664 people still missing.
Source