Shiro Akagi, Suspect of 1970 JAL Hijack, Seen to Have Died

Tokyo, Sept. 17 (Jiji Press)--Shiro Akagi, 78, a member of the group that hijacked Japan Airlines' "Yodo" jet in 1970, is seen to have died in North Korea, where he was living, his supporters have said.

Japanese police are believed to have obtained the information and are working to confirm the fact.

Internationally wanted, Akagi was living in a suburb of Pyongyang with a total of five people, including other members of the hijacker group, such as Kimihiro Uomoto, 78, and the wife of Takamaro Tamiya, a late former executive of the Japanese Red Army.

Akagi had been repeatedly hospitalized due to his chronic illness. He died of heart failure at a hospital in Pyongyang on Saturday, according to the supporters, who obtained the information from related people in North Korea.

In the March 1970 incident, Tamiya, Akagi and seven others, armed with weapons including Japanese swords, hijacked the JAL jet carrying a total of 129 passengers and crew members, which was bound for Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan from Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]