- Title: JAPAN: Severe devastation at fishing town of Otsuchi after earthquake and tsunami
- Date: 16th March 2011
- Summary: OTSUCHI, IWATE PREFECTURE, JAPAN (MARCH 15, 2011) (REUTERS) AREA DESTROYED BY EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI CHARRED DEBRIS DAMAGED CARS IN WATER MAN LOOKING ON AT DEVASTATED AREA PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH AREA BODIES COVERED IN BLANKETS AND PLASTIC SHEETS INSIDE HALL EMERGENCY WORKERS TAKING DNA SWAPS OF BODIES EMERGENCY WORKERS AND BODIES (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT, PATRICK FULLER, SAYING: "I came to Otsuchi two days ago. The Red Cross is the first international organisation to reach this place and I think it's safe to say this is possibly the worst affected town on the coast of northeast Japan. It's been totally devastated. There is a population of 17,000 people living here and it's feared that there could be about 9,000 people who died here." EMERGENCY WORKERS PARKING VEHICLES GROUP OF EMERGENCY WORKERS HAVING MEETING EMERGENCY WORKERS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT, PATRICK FULLER, SAYING: "They simply couldn't evacuate in time. They had about half an hour before the tidal wave came in and the whole place is being devastated. You look around you and there's nothing left. There's a few buildings standing, but survivors picking through the debris of what's left and it's an appalling situation. It's as bad as anything I have seen." EMERGENCY WORKERS AT SCENE EMERGENCY WORKER SIFTING THROUGH DEBRIS CHARRED DEBRIS DEBRIS WITH SMOKE FROM FOREST FIRE IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT, PATRICK FULLER, SAYING: "The search and rescue effort is still going on. I think it is very doubtful they will find people alive here. It's been four days since the tsunami came in and it's bitterly cold here. It's below zero and it's about to snow here. And I think the focus is on retrieving as many dead bodies as they can find and going through the forensic process of trying to identify them." KAMAISHI, IWATE PREFECTURE, JAPAN (MARCH 15, 2011) (REUTERS) JAPANESE RED CROSS PERSONNEL AT STAGING POINT MEMBERS OF JAPANESE RED CROSS MEETING MEMBERS CHATTING FOREST FIRE ON ROAD BETWEEN KAMAISHI AND OTSUCHI FIRE TRUCKS ON ROAD SMOKE FROM FOREST FIRE
- Embargoed: 31st March 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA52DC8P5HU2X7K3N10VWW8M2O4
- Story Text: The fishing hamlet of Otsuchi Japan is amongst the worst hit regions from last Friday 's (March 11) 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
Besides those two events, a fire razed the hamlet of 17,000 people, possibly killing more than half the population in a matter of moments.
A makeshift morgue inside the town's gymnasium houses dozens of bodies, lined up and covered with blankets, residents do their best to make identifications.
A spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Patrick Fuller says nearly half of the town's population is feared dead.
"I came to Otsuchi two days ago. The Red Cross is the first international organisation to reach this place and I think it's safe to say this is possibly the worst affected town on the coast of northeast Japan. It's been totally devastated. There is a population of 17,000 people living here and it's feared that there could be about 9,000 people who died here," said Fuller.
Fuller said because the earthquake was so close to shore, the evacuation time before the tsunami wave hit was only about 30 minutes.
"They simply couldn't evacuate in time. They had about half an hour before the tidal wave came in and the whole place is being devastated. You look around you and there's nothing left. There's a few buildings standing, but survivors picking through the debris of what's left and it's an appalling situation. It's as bad as anything I have seen," Fuller said.
Neighbouring residents have been sharing food and supplies as aid organisations try to cope with the amount of people in need. With such a dire situation in Iwate prefecture, the cold winter weather is not helping.
"The search and rescue effort is still going on. I think it is very doubtful they will find people alive here. It's been four days since the tsunami came in and it's bitterly cold here. It's below zero and it's about to snow here. And I think the focus is on retrieving as many dead bodies as they can find and going through the forensic process of trying to identify them," said Patrick Fuller of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent.
While elsewhere in Japan's earthquake- and tsunami-affected areas people are slowly returning to sift through the rubble and see what they can salvage, in Otsuchi there is nothing to return to. There is nothing but destruction as far as the eye can see. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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