Panel Finds School Responsible for Fatal Okinawa Ship Accident

Osaka, July 31 (Jiji Press)--A third-party committee on a boat accident in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, in March that killed a high school girl and another person found on Friday the school responsible for the death of the student.

The committee said in a report that Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyotanabe, Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, failed to fulfill its safety obligations, including preliminary research, although the boat activity had a high risk in which deteriorating weather could easily lead to serious accidents.

In the March 16 accident, two small protest boats capsized off the Henoko area of the Okinawa city of Nago, where construction to relocate a U.S. Marine base is underway. The boats carried 18 of the school's students on a peace education trip and three crew members.

The accident killed Tomoka Takeishi, a 17-year-old female student of the school, and Hajime Kanai, the 71-year-old captain of one of the boats.

As the causes of the accident, the report cited the school's improper safety control and a lack of safety awareness among teachers.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]