- Title: JAPAN: Evacuations underway near nuclear plant in Fukushima
- Date: 13th March 2011
- Summary: MOTHER AND CHILD LAYING DOWN
- Embargoed: 28th March 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- City:
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA7ACC6CQQ071506ASKACO85GEE
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan on Saturday (March 12) after a massive earthquake caused an explosion at the plant.
Radiation leaked from the plant on Saturday after a blast blew the roof off and authorities prepared to distribute iodine to people in the vicinity to protect them from exposure.
Evacuated people stood in line to wait for radiation scanning to determine if they had been exposed.
The government insisted radiation levels were low because although the explosion severely damaged the main building of the plant, it had not affected the reactor core container.
Government officials initially said an evacuation radius of 10 km (6 miles) from the stricken 40-year-old reactor plant in Fukushima prefecture was adequate, but then an hour later the boundary was extended to 20 km (13 miles).
People living within the evacuation radius or those who were scanned and found to have been exposed to radiation were confined to a specific evacuation center.
One evacuee, Yoshihiro Izumi, said he was transferred several times.
"I was relieved because I got a ride, but I kept getting kicked out of places. Then it takes 12 hours to get here and I'm rejected for this place too," he said.
Local media said three workers suffered radiation exposure at the plant in the wake of the massive earthquake which sent a 10-metre (33-foot) tsunami ripping through towns and cities across the northeast coast.
Scores of elderly people were amongst those evacuated.
"They have their impediments and handicaps to think about, one has to be very careful when handling then, and we took that into considering when moving them," said one unidentified evacuee.
Kyodo news agency said more than 1,700 people were killed or missing as a result of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the biggest in Japan since records began in the nineteenth century. Later it said 9,500 people in one town were unreachable, but gave no other details.
"My home is in Minami Soma and I still have people who I haven't been able to contact and there have been reports of the nuclear leak. I'm really concerned about their safety," said 31-year old Yohei Yonekura.
In Tokyo, search and rescue teams began arriving at Haneda airport on Saturday. A South Korean rescue team and two search dogs arrived were the first to arrive, with 55 other nations and regions offering support for the quake-hit country, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. After landing, the crew headed straight to Fukushima to assist in evacuation efforts.
At the Futenma Air Base in Okinawa prefecture, U.S. Marines loaded supplies onto a plane before boarding. A U.N. rescue team is on standby for deployment to Japan, upon request from Tokyo, a government spokesperson said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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