Relatives floated paper lanterns on a river near the site of a 1985 Japan Airlines jet crash and prayed for loved ones and transport safety on Tuesday, the eve of the 30th anniversary of the world's deadliest single-aircraft accident.
On Aug. 12, 1985, JAL Flight 123, a Boeing 747 bound for Osaka, crashed into a mountain in Gunma Prefecture about 40 minutes after taking off from Tokyo's Haneda airport, killing all but four of the 524 passengers and crew aboard.
As a choir group sang to accordion accompaniment during the evening ceremony, the relatives quietly placed roughly 300 paper lanterns on the Kanna River in the village of Ueno running at the foot of the crash site.