Perilous
Times
Thousands of Japanese tsunami victims remain missing seven
months after disaster
More than 3,900 people are still listed as missing in Japan seven
months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami caused
devastation across the northeastern coastline.
By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo
2:39PM BST 11 Oct 2011
The Telegraph UK
The National Police Agency has confirmed that thousands remain
missing in addition to the official death toll from the disaster
which was 15,822 at the latest count.
The slow rate at which the bodies are being recovered reflects the
challenges facing the authorities, with the high quantity of
tsunami-generated debris along the northeastern coastline having
widely hampering recovery efforts.
Relatives of many of the missing are also being forced to consider
the growing possibility that some victims may never be found
having been swept out to sea in the tsunami.
However, as many as 3,492 applications for death certificates have
been registered with the authorities by relatives of those still
missing as a result of the disaster.
Police are increasingly focusing their searches in or near the sea
as opposed to land in the three worst hit prefectures Iwate,
Miyagi and Fukushima, according to Kyodo News.
The latest police figures confirm that out of the 62 bodies
recovered during the month of September, as many as 47 of these
were discovered in the sea.
The highest volume of missing bodies were found in Miyagi
prefecture, where 37 of the 50 bodies recovered during September
were found at sea by local fishermen.
The sensitive task of finding missing victims is one among a
string of challenges facing regional authorities also battling
with rebuilding tsunami-devastated regions and cleaning up areas
contaminated by radioactivity due to the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
This year's rice harvest has gone on sale in stores in Japan, with
prices ten to 15 per cent higher than last year, with growing
consumer concern surrounding the safety of future supplies.