Japan: Death toll rises alarmingly

The death toll from Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster could climb to a terrifying 25,000 as rescuers discover another city is missing 10,000 people.

Officials in the coastal city of Ishinomaki confirmed to rescuers yesterday (March 16) that up to 10,000 of their residents were still missing when the magnitude 9 earthquake and 10-meter-high tsunami hit the city.

Ishinomaki City was flattened after the triple disaster and 10,000 people are still missing.

Before that, there was also a city that lost an unimaginable number of people like that. That was Minamisanriku city in Miyagi prefecture.

The official death toll from the twin disasters in Japan is now 4,340, with another 9,083 people missing. However, many are concerned that these figures are far lower than the actual number.

The earthquake and tsunami also left about 434,000 people homeless and forced to live in temporary shelters.

“I think the death toll could be as high as 100,000 rather than 10,000,” Ken Joseph, a professor at Chiba University who is part of the Japan Emergency Team in Ishinomaki, told the Evening Standard.

However, in the “picture” of the terrible devastation of the double disaster in Japan, there are some bright spots from the touching stories of the people here, such as the story of Mr. Katsutaro Hamada, 79 years old. Mr. Hamada and his wife were able to run to safety after the earthquake occurred.

Hamada then returned home to retrieve a photo album of his granddaughter Saori, 14, and grandson Hikaru, 10. The tsunami then struck, sweeping away Hamada’s house. Rescue workers found his body pinned between the walls of the first floor, still clutching the photo album to his chest, Kyodo news agency reported.

According to VnMedia