Fears grow for 65 Chinese out of contact
By Ellen Jia, Lu Feiran and Even Liang |
March 14, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THERE had been no reports of Chinese casualties so far following Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said yesterday.
But at least 65 Chinese citizens, most of whom were studying or on training projects in Japan, couldn't be reached at the moment, the China News Agency reported.
Forty of them are from Shandong Province's Rizhao City, the other 25 from Nantong City in Jiangsu Province.
The Chinese from Rizhao were said to have been working in three food factories in Iwate Prefecture, one of the most seriously hit regions. None of them had been in contact since the earthquake and tsunami hit last Friday.
And none of the 25 Nantong citizens have been in touch with their families. One of them, who was on a business trip, was said to have called home on Friday when the earthquake struck but there are no further details.
Nantong has nearly 10,000 Chinese studying or working in Japan.
Confirmed safe
According to 2009 statistics, about 3,100 Chinese were working or living in Iwate and 7,500 in Miyagi Prefecture.
Officials with the Chinese Embassy in Japan have set out to Miyagi to offer help to Chinese citizens there, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
By noon yesterday, 189 Chinese tour groups, with a total of 4,683 Chinese tourists in Japan, had been confirmed to be safe with no death or injury reported, the National Tourism Administration said.
In Shanghai, local travel agencies are taking steps to bring their tourists home. Nearly 300 out of 1,550 in Japan were back in the city yesterday and the rest were expected to catch flights soon.
The Spring International Travel Service said that 39 of their tourists took a China Eastern Airlines flight back from Tokyo's Narita Airport yesterday and another 19 were expected in Shanghai today.
Traffic chaos
A 26-member tour group organized by Jinjiang International Travel Service just landed at Narita Airport on Friday when the earthquake struck. Because of the ensuing traffic chaos in the Japanese capital they stayed at an airport hotel but would soon resume their journey.
China's National Tourism Administration is advising tourists to "be cautious" if they intend traveling to Japan.
Flights to Fukushima Prefecture have all been cancelled due to radiation risks triggered by explosions at a nuclear plant.
Shanghai radiation supervision authorities are monitoring the city's air quality to detect whether any radiation had spread to the city.
In Shanghai, local universities were checking up on their Japanese students' families and contacting Chinese students taking part in exchange programs in Japan.
Takahashi Yuka, a Japanese student at Fudan University, was in class when she received a text message from her mother, telling her about the quake. Her family live in quake-hit Miyagi Prefecture and she has had difficulty contacting family members.
Donghua Univerity has more than 50 Chinese students studying in Japan but university officials have contacted them all and will keep in touch to ensure their safety.
But at least 65 Chinese citizens, most of whom were studying or on training projects in Japan, couldn't be reached at the moment, the China News Agency reported.
Forty of them are from Shandong Province's Rizhao City, the other 25 from Nantong City in Jiangsu Province.
The Chinese from Rizhao were said to have been working in three food factories in Iwate Prefecture, one of the most seriously hit regions. None of them had been in contact since the earthquake and tsunami hit last Friday.
And none of the 25 Nantong citizens have been in touch with their families. One of them, who was on a business trip, was said to have called home on Friday when the earthquake struck but there are no further details.
Nantong has nearly 10,000 Chinese studying or working in Japan.
Confirmed safe
According to 2009 statistics, about 3,100 Chinese were working or living in Iwate and 7,500 in Miyagi Prefecture.
Officials with the Chinese Embassy in Japan have set out to Miyagi to offer help to Chinese citizens there, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
By noon yesterday, 189 Chinese tour groups, with a total of 4,683 Chinese tourists in Japan, had been confirmed to be safe with no death or injury reported, the National Tourism Administration said.
In Shanghai, local travel agencies are taking steps to bring their tourists home. Nearly 300 out of 1,550 in Japan were back in the city yesterday and the rest were expected to catch flights soon.
The Spring International Travel Service said that 39 of their tourists took a China Eastern Airlines flight back from Tokyo's Narita Airport yesterday and another 19 were expected in Shanghai today.
Traffic chaos
A 26-member tour group organized by Jinjiang International Travel Service just landed at Narita Airport on Friday when the earthquake struck. Because of the ensuing traffic chaos in the Japanese capital they stayed at an airport hotel but would soon resume their journey.
China's National Tourism Administration is advising tourists to "be cautious" if they intend traveling to Japan.
Flights to Fukushima Prefecture have all been cancelled due to radiation risks triggered by explosions at a nuclear plant.
Shanghai radiation supervision authorities are monitoring the city's air quality to detect whether any radiation had spread to the city.
In Shanghai, local universities were checking up on their Japanese students' families and contacting Chinese students taking part in exchange programs in Japan.
Takahashi Yuka, a Japanese student at Fudan University, was in class when she received a text message from her mother, telling her about the quake. Her family live in quake-hit Miyagi Prefecture and she has had difficulty contacting family members.
Donghua Univerity has more than 50 Chinese students studying in Japan but university officials have contacted them all and will keep in touch to ensure their safety.
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