Loss-hit Ishinomaki school opens

Friday, April 22, 2011

Kyodo

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Pref. — An elementary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, started the new school year Thursday despite losing about 70 percent of its students and most of its teachers in the March 11 disaster.

Your school, my school: Students at Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, go to their opening ceremony, which was held at another public school. KYODO PHOTO Courtesy:Japantimes

The tsunami killed or left missing 74 of Okawa Elementary School's 108 students and 10 of its 13 teachers, as many were swept away before they could evacuate to higher ground. The school is located some 5 km from the mouth of the Kitakami River.

Twenty-two students and 16 teachers attended the school's opening ceremony, which was held at another public school in the city. Okawa's school building was severely damaged by the tsunami and remains surrounded by debris and seawater more than a month after the catastrophe.