Around 10,000 people are missing from the Japanese port town of Minamisanriku, just 290 miles north of Tokyo : it has been devastated by the tsunami caused by the 8.9 magnitude earthquake.
The Japanese state broadcast agency has reported that 9,500 people are unaccounted for in the town, in Miyagi prefecture, which has a population of 19,000.It has been reported that the cut-off town was literally ‘washed away’ and that many buildings have been completely destroyed.
Shocking pictures show the streets buried in black silt, with only taller buildings protruding from the wreckage. Rubble, cars, and wreckage litter the swampy area.Rescue teams are now coming in to the area to try and save those who survived the wave.
Four trains are still missing, along with a ship thought to be carrying at least 100 passengers.President Barack Obama has pledged U.S. assistance and said one aircraft carrier was already in Japan and a second was on its way.
