SENDAI--A South Korean rescue team combing through the Gamo area of Sendai's Miyagino Ward has found mud-covered furniture, broken dishes, futons and clothing in the rubble, but distressingly few signs of life.
SENDAI--A South Korean rescue team combing through the Gamo area of Sendai's Miyagino Ward has found mud-covered furniture, broken dishes, futons and clothing in the rubble, but distressingly few signs of life.
SENDAI--A South Korean rescue team combing through the Gamo area of Sendai's Miyagino Ward has found mud-covered furniture, broken dishes, futons and clothing in the rubble, but distressingly few signs of life.
One shattered photo frame retrieved from the wreckage contained a picture of a smiling family.
Distressed survivors pleaded with the group, part of the first South Korean rescue operation in Japan, to help them on Tuesday.
"My son's wife is still missing," one person said. "I saw a co-worker swept away. Please help," said another.
The team's leader, Lee Dong-Seong, 52, replied that they would try their best. But, in truth, relatively few survivors are being found amid the collapsed buildings and overturned vehicles.
Operations following devastating quakes in China's Sichuan province in May 2008 and Haiti in January 2010 were able to retrieve survivors trapped in collapsed buildings. The March 11 earthquake and massive tsunami appeared to have been more thorough in its deadly work.
The South Korean rescuers discovered body after body amid the devastation.
Following the Japanese custom, they put their hands together in prayer before each body.
"We will not give up hope because there may be survivors somewhere," said Lee. "We want people to endure this enormous catastrophe."
He said: "The people here have suffered indescribably. We are trying to help."
South Korea sent an advance team to Miyagi Prefecture on March 12, a day after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck.
The main party, comprising 105 members, arrived on Monday, equipped with sonar, search dogs, first aid supplies and underwater rescue equipment. Three separate teams are working in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, and elsewhere.
South Korea began training personnel for relief operations in the late 1980s and has worked closely with Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
The team in Miyagino Ward has set up camp in the parking lot of an athletic ground near their search area. Since arriving, their tents have been covered in snow. The rescuers have also had to deal with constant anxiety and monitor radiation levels as the crisis at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has developed to the the south of Sendai.
The team said they have been drawing encouragement from Japanese residents calling their appreciation in Japanese and in Korean.
Asked what he wanted to tell survivors, Lee said: "Please don't lose hope and courage. We will do all we can to help you."