SENDAI, Japan: Human remains discovered by a construction company in a coastal town in north-eastern Japan in 2023 have been identified as those of a six-year-old girl from Iwate Prefecture who was swept away in the 2011 tsunami, police said Thursday (Oct 9).
According to Kyodo news agency, the girl has been identified as Natsuse Yamane. Her family expressed gratitude for the latest development, 14 years after the disaster.
"We had long given up (on finding her body), so when we were notified, it took us by surprise. We are very grateful,” the Yamane family said in a statement.
Police said the Yamane family’s home in the coastal town of Yamada was destroyed.
The last time Miyagi police identified Natsuse as missing on Mar 11, 2011, after the tsunami struck her house and carried her away.
A fragment of a human jaw and several teeth were later discovered in Feb 2023 in Minami-Sanriku, a town about 100 kilometres south in neighbouring Miyagi Prefecture, during a construction company’s volunteer for clean-up efforts along sidewalks and beaches.
Police said DNA testing on the girl’s bone, along with protein analysis conducted by Tohoku University, confirmed her identity.
The remains will be returned to her family soon.
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Japan, triggering a massive tsunami and causing a nuclear crisis in Fukushima.
As of early this year, 15,900 people had died across the country as a result of the disaster, according to the National Police Agency, while more than 2,500 people remain missing. - Bernama/Kyodo
