By Andy Bloxham
March 17 (Telegraph) — Here are the latest minute-by-minute
updates on the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami
as the struggle continues to avert a full-blown nuclear disaster
in the reactors at Fukushima.
• Japanese military helicopters dump water on Fukushima
plant• Fears of radioactivity spreading, as particles move
towards US and China concerned• FCO charters plane for Brits who
can’t get commercial flights (call +44 20 7008 6900)• FTSE100 up
as G7 could calm markets but Yen at all-time high
Latest
09:40 More and more expats are trying to leave Japan.
09:34 Readers have remarked on our man Julian Ryall’s moving
piece from Ishinomaki. I’ve posted a flavour below in case you
missed it or the full article is here.
Many of the children taking refuge at the Kama Elementary
School, on the eastern fringes of the town of Ishinomaki, are
playing in the corridors or helping their parents scrub
mud-coated boots in the filthy water of the school pool.
But the atmosphere in the room on the third floor, where 30
children whose parents simply disappeared when the tsunami swept
through the town, is very different.
Viewed through the window, the children sit more still and
are apparently engrossed in books or card games. They are watched
over by other relatives or teachers and we are not allowed to
enter or speak with them. Understandably, they do not want their
charges to have more reminders of the disaster that has befallen
them.
Masami Hoshi was the sports teacher at the school but, since
the Japanese tsunami, has been trying to get enough food for the
657 people living in the four-storey school building and locate
missing students and their parents.
He has achieved that with a handful, but these 30 are still
alone.
09:32 Is this the luckiest or unluckiest man in the world?
An Indonesian engineering student called Zahrul Fuadi who escaped
the 2004 tsunami, moved to Sendai in Japan, and survived last
week’s earthquake and its aftermath.
09:19 A German geoscience centre has produced an animation
of the flash of earthquakes that have affected Japan in the last
eight days. It’s available here http://bit.ly/ejRHpe
09:16 The FTSE 100 had edged up this morning, analysts are
speculating that the reason is that there is reason to hope the
G7 governments will make a move to calm financial markets.
09:09 The cold of the last 24 hours is increasing the
numbers of people suffering from diarrhoea, according to Takanori
Watanabe, a Red Cross doctor in Otsuchi, a low-lying town where
more than half the 17,000 residents are still missing.
08:52 Low concentrations of radioactive particles are
heading east from Japan toward North America, a Swedish official
tells the news agency Reuters, but adds that there’s no danger to
health.
08:46 Apparently there’s been a rush on salt in China,
because people believe the iodine in it can protect against
radiation.
Chinese students learn about radiation awareness during a
class at a school in Hanshan, in Anhui province. (AFP/GETTY
IMAGES)
08:29 China, with whom Japan has never had easy relations,
is beginning to get twitchy about the risk of radioactive
pollution reaching its shores. Beijing’s foreign ministry
spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said:
We hope the Japanese side will release information, as well
as its evaluation and prediction of the situation, to the public
in a timely and precise manner.
08:22 Dangerous radioactive metals including plutonium,
caesium, strontium and ruthenium could be released into the
atmosphere if number 3 blows, experts say.
08:17 Water cannon are now hosing down Reactor 3.
08:01 Here’s a summary of the Telegraph’s latest and best
eye-witness accounts from Japan:
Peter Foster in Fukushima:"In a cavernous sports hall on the
outskirts of Fukushima, a message booms out from the public
address system: "Attention please! Attention please! Radiation
screening is now available. Voluntary radiation screening is now
available"."
Andrew Gilligan in Tokyo: "They work sweating in airtight
suits, fighting disaster in a plant collapsing at their feet.
They brave explosions and fires that have already killed five of
them and may have blasted the others with life-changing
radiation. They are the "Fukushima 50"."
Julian Ryall in Ishinomaki:"In a corner room at the Ka
Elementary School, 30 children wait in silence for news tha
might never come."
Nick Allen in Tokyo: "As she bundled her three young
children on to a bullet train out of the Japanese capital H
Nakayama had no doubt it was time to leave."
07:58 According to the International Atomic Energy Age
25 workers at Fukushima have been injured and 19 contaminat
radiation.
07:50 Some updates from news agencies:
AFP: Minister says risk of major blackouts in Japan un
electricity use is reduced
AFP: Official number of dead and missing after Japan q
and tsunami stands at 14,650
07:34 Professor Laurence Williams, a nuclear safety ex
said he was not clear why the Japanese were dumping seawate
the reactors, because it might not work. He didn’t say it b
appeared to be suggesting it might be for show or reassuran
Prof Williams also added that any danger was low level and
localised, saying: "This is not another Chernobyl."
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant (Reuters)
07:18 Steve McDonald, Save the Children’s head of emergency
response in Sendai, tells the BBC’s Today programme: "The sad
reality is that over the coming week as we go up the coast we ar
going to find more and more children who have lost parents."
07:15 It appears that Nick Allen, our man in Tokyo, and the
FO are thinking along the same lines. Perhaps they’re keen to
avoid another "Libya" evacuation. Brits affected by the tsunami
can leave Japan for Hong Kong for free.
"Looks like the Foreign Office was listening to my earlier
report from the airport! They have beaten Sir Richard to it and
chartered at least one plane to Hong Kong. It will be for people
who aren’t able to get out of the country on commercial flights.
If you were affected by the tsunami you can travel for free, if
not you need to pay £600."
07:02 The yen has reached a record high against the dollar
but continues to be unstable. A strong yen means more expensive
Japanese exports, which could cut demand for its products and
further damage its economy.