Japan in bid to rescue snowed-in villagers

TOKYO – Soldiers battled through snow yesterday to reach nearly 200 households cut off for two days in the mountains of central Japan in a record cold snap that has left 72 people dead.

The army airlifted fuel and students missed classes as towns were buried by roof-high snowfall unusual even for Japan’s frigid winters. “We’ve got so much snow we don’t even have the space to pile up the snow that’s being ploughed away,” a teacher in one of the isolated towns told public broadcaster NHK.The towns of Tsunanmachi in central Niigata prefecture and Sakaemura in neighbouring Nagano prefecture have been isolated for two days as traffic was halted on National Highway 405 due to fear of avalanches.Thirty-six soldiers from the Japanese army’s disaster relief unit brought in snow excavation machinery, joining forces with local government workers to try to bring supplies to the towns.But the work was suspended at sundown.On Monday, operations were also hampered by avalanche warnings.”We plan to resume operations as soon as day breaks tomorrow but it all depends on weather conditions,” said an official of Niigata Prefecture.The military dispatched a helicopter to Sakaemura to deliver 1 000 litres of fuel for snow blowers operating there.In Tsunanmachi, around 160 kilometres north of Tokyo, 69 households or 199 people were cut off with 323 centimetres of snow accumulating as of Tuesday morning.The Japan Meteorological Agency expects 40 to 60 centimetres more snowfall in the area facing the Sea of Japan during the 24 hours until 6:00 am Wednesday (2100 GMT Tuesday).All 10 public primary and middle schools in the town were closed, delaying the start of the new school term until Thursday.”Right now, snow has to be cleared off the roads and is piled up on the sidewalk,” said town government official Takuya Miyazawa.”We haven’t been able to secure safety for children to walk the roads to go to school,” he said, saying the town had no idea when the main road would reopen.In Sakaemura, 301 people in 124 households are isolated.Village spokesman Shinichi Kamikura said fuel reserves were almost exhausted before the airlift.The massive snowfall has claimed the lives of at least 72 people since the season began in early December, according to a tally by Kyodo News.Fifteen locations across Japan have been hit by record snowfall since last month, according to the meteorological agency.- Nampa-AFP”We’ve got so much snow we don’t even have the space to pile up the snow that’s being ploughed away,” a teacher in one of the isolated towns told public broadcaster NHK.The towns of Tsunanmachi in central Niigata prefecture and Sakaemura in neighbouring Nagano prefecture have been isolated for two days as traffic was halted on National Highway 405 due to fear of avalanches.Thirty-six soldiers from the Japanese army’s disaster relief unit brought in snow excavation machinery, joining forces with local government workers to try to bring supplies to the towns.But the work was suspended at sundown.On Monday, operations were also hampered by avalanche warnings.”We plan to resume operations as soon as day breaks tomorrow but it all depends on weather conditions,” said an official of Niigata Prefecture.The military dispatched a helicopter to Sakaemura to deliver 1 000 litres of fuel for snow blowers operating there.In Tsunanmachi, around 160 kilometres north of Tokyo, 69 households or 199 people were cut off with 323 centimetres of snow accumulating as of Tuesday morning.The Japan Meteorological Agency expects 40 to 60 centimetres more snowfall in the area facing the Sea of Japan during the 24 hours until 6:00 am Wednesday (2100 GMT Tuesday).All 10 public primary and middle schools in the town were closed, delaying the start of the new school term until Thursday.”Right now, snow has to be cleared off the roads and is piled up on the sidewalk,” said town government official Takuya Miyazawa.”We haven’t been able to secure safety for children to walk the roads to go to school,” he said, saying the town had no idea when the main road would reopen.In Sakaemura, 301 people in 124 households are isolated.Village spokesman Shinichi Kamikura said fuel reserves were almost exhausted before the airlift.The massive snowfall has claimed the lives of at least 72 people since the season began in early December, according to a tally by Kyodo News.Fifteen locations across Japan have been hit by record snowfall since last month, according to the meteorological agency.- Nampa-AFP