The Yomiuri Shimbun
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi--Its seats charred and window frames exposed, a twisted metal structure is all that remains of a kindergarten bus destroyed by the catastrophic tsunami that followed the March 11 earthquake.
Its passengers, five children aged 4 to 6 attending Hiyori Kindergarten in Ishinomaki, never made it home.
On that fateful day, the bus was scheduled to leave the kindergarten at 2:51 p.m. The driver, however, waited until the strong jolts subsided. With 12 children on board, the bus left the center and headed for the children's homes located in a residential enclave near Ishinomaki Port, according to the head of the kindergarten.
After dropping off seven children, the driver saw the tsunami approaching. He tried to head back to Hiyori Kindergarten located on higher ground.
But the tsunami quickly swallowed up the bus, which then became engulfed in flames after gasoline leaking from a gas station nearby ignited.
The children's bodies were later recovered either inside or close to the bus once floodwaters had receded.
Amazingly, the driver narrowly escaped death. He lost consciousness during the tsunami, but said when he came to he found himself sprawled on the roof of a building.
Ishinomaki residents have since been paying their respects at the bus site, offering flowers, water, chocolates and other snacks. Kindergarten officials have offered incense every morning.
Sadly, the tragedy was not a one-off incident. Elsewhere in the prefecture, in Yamamotocho, the tsunami engulfed another two kindergarten buses, killing a further seven children.
(Mar. 23, 2011)
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