JAPAN: Japan holds disaster exercises throughout the country, with 300 volunteers participating in Tokyo

Record ID: 466683

  • Title: JAPAN: Japan holds disaster exercises throughout the country, with 300 volunteers participating in Tokyo
  • Date: 1st September 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 01, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS PUTTING OUT FIRE CAR WITH WOODEN PILLARS STICKING INTO IT
  • Embargoed: 16th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVACWF5P8VWDV4OTFQYZQLIG1IBI
  • Story Text: Disaster exercises were held throughout Japan on Saturday (September 1) with roads being shut as participants practised evacuation drills for possible tsunami and threats from fire.
    About 300 residents, who had volunteered, and fire brigade personnel participated in a fire disaster drill in an area of Tokyo, where wooden structures are in close proximity of each other.
    Residents practised putting out fires using a bucket relay system and helped lift sandbags, simulating injured people, onto stretchers to carry them away to safety.
    The fire brigade sawed, hammered and kicked down wooden walls of simulated houses to rescue injured people trapped inside.
    Ambulances and motorcycles were on the scene to provide an extra level of realism.
    "People are talking about the possibility of a major disaster and doing this is really good. When something does happen, it is totally different between simply witnessing and actually doing it so this is great," said an unidentified woman who participated in the drill.
    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has forecasted up to 9,600 deaths from fires if a major earthquake struck central Tokyo, according to the local media.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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