Japan toll tops 27,000 dead or missing

Zardari visits Japanese Embassy, says Pakistan knows devastation too well.

OSAKA:

The number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing in Japan rose above 27,000 on Thursday, nearly two weeks after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the country’s northeast coast.

There are fears of a much higher toll from the disaster, which flattened entire towns along the Pacific coast of the country’s main island of Honshu.

The National Police Agency said that 9,811 people had been confirmed dead and 17,541 officially listed as missing - a total of 27,352 - as of 9:00 pm (1200 GMT) as a result of the March 11 catastrophe.

A total of 2,779 people have been injured.

To express Pakistan’s support, President Asif Ali Zardari visited the Japanese embassy on Thursday and offered assistance apart from the relief goods already sent.

“The people of Pakistan share the sorrow and grief of the people of Japan. The devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami have been truly shocking,” President Asif Ali Zardari wrote as part of his message in the condolence book for Japan’s earthquake and tsunami victims.

President Zardari said that the people of Pakistan sadly know all too well the devastation that is caused by natural calamities involving earthquakes and the destructive force of water.

“We feel Japan’s pain and we have been stunned by the tragic images,” the president added.

Pakistan has sent a special flight carrying relief goods for the earthquake and tsunami affected people of Japan and is ready to provide any assistance.

The quake has become Japan’s deadliest natural disaster since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which killed more than 142,000 people.Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and have taken shelter in emergency facilities.

Japan is one of Pakistan’s largest foreign donors.

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Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2011.