Nippon Paper Pres. Laments Deaths at Quake-Hit Plant

Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Pref., Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)–Nippon Paper Industries Co. President Akira Sebe on Wednesday lamented the deaths of nine people in an accident in which a chimney at a plant collapsed following last week’s major earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture. “We take it extremely seriously,” Sebe told a news conference in Yatsushiro in the southwestern Japan prefecture. “We express our deepest condolences over those who lost their lives and offer our heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families.” Company officials told the news conference that shortly after the temblor with a magnitude of 7.1 on July 28, an 80-meter-tall reinforced concrete chimney collapsed at the plant in Yatsushiro, killing nine people in a nearby two-story building. Nippon Paper will investigate the cause of the collapse, including whether the chimney had deteriorated with age and whether there was any problem with its durability. In Yatsushiro, the quake registered a seismic intensity of up to upper 6, the second-highest level on the Japanese scale. At the time, there were 414 people in the plant, also including employees of partner companies and clients. Eleven people were trapped due to the quake. Of them, nine, including six Nippon Paper employees, were later confirmed dead. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]