On Tuesday, a Japan Coast Guard plane collided violently with a Japan Airlines passenger plane at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, killing five persons on board.
According to AFP, this occurred as Japanese rescuers fought on Tuesday to locate survivors of an earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day and claimed at least 50 lives. The earthquake also caused extensive damage.
According to Japanese Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito, all 379 passengers and crew members on board the passenger plane that caught fire have been safely evacuated.
But following Monday’s massive earthquake, five out of the six crew members on the smaller plane, which was headed for central Japan, perished, according to Saito.
“We’re not at the stage to explain the cause” of the accident, the captain stated after he managed to escape and survive despite his injuries.
The aircraft was quickly evacuated, along with its 367 passengers and 12 staff members, and the fuselage was doused with blue lights from numerous fire engines.
However, they were unable to put out the fire that was emerging from windows close to the wings, and the fire quickly spread throughout the entire aircraft.
According to reports, the aircraft was an Airbus 350 that had come from the New Chitose Airport that serves Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in the north. Eight kids were among those on board.
An adult male passenger told reporters at the airport, “As smoke started to fill the plane, I thought, ‘This could be really bad.'”
“According to an announcement, the middle and rear doors could not be opened. Consequently, everyone got off at the front, he stated.
After the landing, the fire got worse, according to a female passenger AFP spoke with.
“To be honest, I thought I wouldn’t make it out of the plane because it was getting really hot inside,” she stated in remarks that were carried by NHK.
An earthquake causes havoc.
The 7.5 magnitude earthquake that rocked Ishikawa prefecture on Honshu’s main island caused road destruction, a massive fire and tsunami waves that rose more than a metre in the air.
Buildings destroyed by fire, homes demolished, fishing boats submerged or swept ashore, and landslides that struck highways were among the devastation on the Noto Peninsula.
“I’m shocked that the house is so damaged and all of my family members survived it unharmed,” Akiko remarked as she stood outside her parents’ dilapidated house in the severely damaged city of Wajima.
She told AFP that the beginning of 2024 “will be etched into my memory forever” following what she described as the long and intense earthquake on Monday.
In the neighbouring village of Shika, Tsugumasa Mihara, 73, stood in queue with hundreds of other people to get water and remarked, “It was such a powerful jolt.”
Citing local officials, the Japanese news agency Kyodo said that 57 people had died as rescuers searched through the debris.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared following a disaster response meeting that “very extensive damage has been confirmed, including numerous casualties, building collapses, and fires.”
“To find and save victims of disasters, we must work quickly.”
The seven-story commercial structure that was destroyed by a fire that tore through Wajima’s ancient market district was captured on camera by TV crews flying overhead. Damage from the earthquake hindered attempts to put out the fire.
According to officials reported by Kyodo, the majority of the houses in the seaside city of Suzu collapsed.
At a prefectural government meeting, Suzu Mayor Masuhiro Izumiya was quoted as saying, “The situation is devastating, as about 90 percent of houses have been completely or nearly completely destroyed.”
According to the local energy company, about 33,000 houses in the area lost power overnight as temperatures dropped below freezing. There was no flowing water in many cities.
The US Geological Survey reported that the earthquake’s magnitude was 7.5. It was one of more than 210 earthquakes that would shock the area until Tuesday night, according to Japan’s meteorological office, which registered it at 7.6.
Early on Tuesday, several powerful shocks were recorded, including one measuring 5.6 that forced national broadcaster NHK to switch to a special show.
The host urged the audience to check their kitchens for fires by saying, “Please take deep breaths.”
According to an AFP story, there are hundreds of earthquakes in Japan each year, the majority of which are benign.
According to a data released by the Japanese government last year, the number of earthquakes in the Noto Peninsula region has been rising significantly since 2018.
The nation is still scarred by the 2011 tsunami that killed or left over 18,500 people missing after a powerful 9.0 magnitude underwater earthquake off the coast of northeastern Japan.
