ONAGAWA, Miyagi Pref. (Kyodo) From a pile of debris over 10 meters high, the body of Junko Sato was carefully removed by an Indian rescue and relief team Saturday in the tsunami-hit town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture. Her son Yukiyoshi, 38, cried out at the sight of her, "Sorry, Mom, sorry I left you."
The 46-member National Disaster Response Force from India, which arrived for its first relief operation abroad on March 28, has taken charge of the search for missing people in the town as well as recovery of bodies and clearing away of debris.
The team's leader, Commandant Alok Avasthy, said that while it was too late for the group to save people's lives, it had many tasks ahead of it. "After seeing the devastation caused by the earthquake and the tsunami there's still a lot of work to be done," he said.