Child confirmed dead as Japan boat accident toll rises to 11

Japanese rescuers on Monday confirmed the demise of a child in a weekend sightseeing boat accident, raising the death toll to a minimum of 11, as efforts to discover survivors endured.

The Kazu I become wearing 24 passengers, inclusive of children and two teams, whilst it despatched a misery signal on Saturday afternoon because it began to take on water in the frigid waters off Japan’s northern Hokkaido island.

Ten people had been recovered and confirmed useless by early Sunday night, and the coast shield said it retrieved an infant later that night time, whose death became shown on Monday morning.

The boat sent a distress signal from off the coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula, prompting the launch of a search-and-rescue operation.

But the remote location and poor conditions meant it took several hours for coast guard vessels and aircrafts to arrive on the scene.

All those on board were reportedly wearing life jackets, but hopes for survivors faded quickly given the icy temperatures in the region, with the water estimated to be around two or three degrees Celsius (36 or 37 degrees Fahrenheit).

The boat had set out on Saturday morning on a sightseeing cruise of the sort that is popular in the Shiretoko Peninsula, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site for its pristine natural environment and diverse wildlife.

The tour went ahead despite high winds and waves that reportedly prompted some local fishing boats to return to shore to avoid the worsening conditions.

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and police, as well as some local fishing boats, were assisting in the search operation, with local media saying bodies had been retrieved from both the water and coast.

The transport ministry has sent officials to the company that operated the sightseeing boat to determine whether they were operating within safety guidelines, and to investigate the cause of the accident, a ministry spokesman told AFP.

Rescue operations were delayed in part by rough seas that meant the first boats did not arrive on the scene until more than four hours after the distress signal was sent, a government spokesman said.

The aircraft closest to the site was out on patrol at the time, and had to refuel and pick up divers before it headed to the site, also creating delays, he added.

Those killed in the accident have not yet been identified, though officials said they included seven men and three women, in addition to the child.

A man whose parents and brother were on the boat told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper that he had given them the tour as a present.

“They may still be in the cold sea, but I’m praying for their safety,” he told the newspaper.

“I want to find out what happened to them as soon as possible, but I don’t know what to do,” he added.

And the father of a passenger said his 22-year-old son had taken the trip with his girlfriend and had planned to propose.

“I learned that my son brought a ring and decided to propose to her on the trip as a surprise,” Tsuyoshi Suzuki told local station Hokkaido Broadcasting.

“I talked to her parents last night, crying. We discussed how we really hope they come out of this together, not separately,” he said.

“I know there is no hope, but I just want them to be found together.”

The Kazu I ran aground in shallow water in June last year, however, become capable of freeing itself and returning to port, wherein its captain became in the end investigated for endangering traffic by negligence in the behavior of the business.