Despite a weather that looked bad, the “Kazu-I” took the sea, Saturday morning, to follow a side of the Shiretoko Peninsula, a natural area preserved northeast of the large Northern Japanese island Hokkaido.
Le Monde with AFP
Nine people, whose state of health remains uncertain, were found, Sunday, April 24, after the sinking the day before a tourist boat in the north of Japan, where the waters were cold and agitated. Seventeen other people were always missing.
On these nine people, some of which have been found at sea and others on the shore, seven were in a “unconscious” state, according to a spokesman for coast guards, ignoring the state of health of the two others. All were transported to hospitals. The Japanese authorities do not talk about death once the death officially found by a doctor.
Despite a weather that looked bad, the Kazu-I had taken the sea Saturday morning to follow a side of the Shiretoko Peninsula, a natural area preserved northeast of the great Japanese northern island of Hokkaido.
The crew sent a distress call at 1:13 pm (6:13 am, French time), indicating that the boat was flowing, with its inclined part with 30 degrees. The ship carried two crew members and 24 passengers, including two children. All wore lifejackets. But the waters of the region are very cold now, with a temperature of two-three degrees during the day just, and the coast is still frozen in places.
The coast guards have only arrived at the spot than after three hours, and intense research continues since. The police, the Japanese self-defense forces (SDF) and local fishermen also participate in operations, both maritime and aerial.
Two children were on board
Aerial images of the Japanese public television channel NHK showed a helicopter and patrol boats exploring the edge of the peninsula, as well as rescuers on land scrutinizing a very rugged shore, with high waves falling down. Full of foam against big rocks. Other images of the coast guards showed men inspecting crevasses on the coast and some objects marked with the Kazu-i registration stranded on the shore.
Japan Coast Guard Vessels and a Helicopter Are Searching for A Tower Boat That Ran Intro Trouble in Waters Off Easter … https://t.co/feboai1kgn //p>- nhkworld_news (@nhk world news)
The sea was stirred at the time of the accident: fishing boats in the surroundings had returned to the harbor before Saturday noon, because of high waves and a strong wind, according to a local fishing cooperative cited by the Japanese news agency Kyodo. “It was expected that the waves become more and more high. I would not have taken the sea under these conditions,” said Saturday, to Kyodo a person of the same local tourism sector.
The Kazu-I had already experienced an avarie, during an excursion in June, hitting the bottoms near its home port, according to the Japanese media. This incident had not been injured but had earned a police investigation for the captain of the boat for negligence.
The Shireko Peninsula is an important tourist attraction in Hokkaido. The Natural Site has been ranked since 2005 World Heritage of UNESCO for its remarkable terrestrial and marine ecosystems.