Lanterns floated for victims of JAL jet crash 40 years ago
About 200 lanterns were lit up and released into a river at the foot of a ridge in eastern Japan on Monday, where a passenger jet crash killed more than 500 people 40 years ago.
Bereaved relatives and others observed a moment of silence and floated the handmade lanterns with messages for the victims on the Kanna River, praying for them and the safety of air travel.
On Aug. 12, 1985, a Japan Airlines jet crashed into the Osutaka Ridge in the village of Ueno in Gunma Prefecture, claiming the lives of 520 people aboard.
Asato Kawaguchi, a 24-year-old company employee from Tokyo, lost his grandfather, Hirotsugu, who was 52 at the time of the crash. In a will left on the plane, Hirotsugu expressed gratitude, saying, "I had a happy life."
"I also want to live a life where I can say so," Kawaguchi said. Safety in the sky is "protected by efforts that can't be seen. Don't forget the cost," he added.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
