2 Dead after 2 Ships Capsize off Henoko in Okinawa

Naha, Okinawa Pref., March 16 (Jiji Press)–Two ships capsized on Monday off the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, leaving two people dead. The ships are believed to have been used for protesting against the Japanese government’s plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station to Henoko from Ginowan, also in Okinawa. The incident occurred around 10:10 a.m. After all 21 people aboard the ships were rescued, four were taken to hospital, two of whom were later confirmed dead, according to the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of Okinawa. The two ships involved were the Heiwa Maru, weighing under 5 tons and carrying 10 high school students and two crew members, and the 1.9-ton Fukutsu, with eight students and a crew of one aboard, according to the coast guard regional headquarters. The two people who died were a 17-year-old female student at Doshisha International Senior High School and the captain of the Fukutsu, a man in his 70s. At the time of the incident, a high surf advisory had been issued. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]