Japan rescuers find body drifting in sea 10 days after floods, father believes it is his daughter
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Mr Takaya Kiso (centre) searching for his missing 14-year-old daughter among the flood debris after the heavy rain in Wajima, Japan, on Sept 23.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
TOKYO – A body was found drifting in the Sea of Japan – also known as the East Sea – that Japanese rescuers said on Oct 1 might be a teenager who went missing in a severe flood 10 days ago
Rescuers found the body on Sept 30 in waters off the port of Fukui in central Japan, some 160km south-west of the Noto region that experienced torrential rain, violent floods and landslides that killed at least 13 people
The search for Hanon Kiso, 14, captured national attention as her distressed father Takaya Kiso appealed for help to find his daughter, who was home alone when the disaster hit on Sept 21.
The body found on Sept 30 was wearing a gym suit with a tag that rescuers believed says “Kiso”, a local coast guard official told AFP.
Mr Kiso, who saw photos of the body, told reporters on Oct 1 that he believed it was his daughter.
“We haven’t been able to positively identify her, but I am sure it was my daughter’s clothes,” he said.
He was at work when water surrounded their home, and he rushed back, but the house was already gone.
“In my last phone call to her, I told her to wear a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, and it looks like she listened,” Mr Kiso said.
The coast guard official said efforts to identify the body were continuing.
More than 540mm of rain was recorded in the city of Wajima over 72 hours, the heaviest continuous downpour since comparative data became available.
The disaster hit an area making a fragile recovery from a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day that toppled buildings, triggered tsunami waves and sparked a major fire.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. AFP
