Japan rescuers find child’s body in search for survivors of sunken tour boat
- Kazu 1 was taking 24 passengers, including two children, on a tour off Japan’s northern coast when it sank on Saturday
- Discovery of 11th victim, with some bodies apparently found without life jackets, comes amid questions about why vessel sailed in rough weather at known hazardous location
Inquiries have begun into what caused the disappearance of a tour boat off Japan’s northern coast as search efforts intensified on Monday to find the vessel and its missing passengers, with the confirmed death toll rising to 11.
Kazu 1 left harbour on Saturday for a sightseeing trip when it ran into trouble off the Shiretoko peninsula on the island of Hokkaido.
The boat was carrying 24 passengers, including 2 children, and two crew members. Only a few orange flotation devices bearing its name have been discovered adrift by a rocky area along the rugged coastline. One child is among the dead.
Searching resumed on Monday using aircraft and patrol boats, with media saying local fishing boats from the port of Utoro had also been mobilised. Searchers also walked steep cliffs along the shoreline.
The Transport Ministry sent officials to the site on Sunday to coordinate operations, and Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito also visited.
Hiroaki Okuma, an investigator from the Japan Transport Safety Board investigator, told reporters they were collecting information to find out the cause of the tragedy and questioning staff at the ship operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise.
