By MASANORI ISOBE/ Staff Writer
August 23, 2022 at 16:32 JST
The Kazu I tour boat is raised to the sea surface off the town of Shari in Hokkaido on May 26. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Four months have passed since the fatal Kazu I tour boat disaster, but Japanese and Russian officials have yet to agree on how to repatriate three human bodies believed to be from the sunken ship.
Japanese officials are seeking the early return of the bodies discovered by Russian authorities in May and June.
The Kazu I sank in rough seas off the Shiretoko Peninsula, eastern Hokkaido, on April 23 with 26 passengers and crew members aboard. Fourteen bodies have been recovered to date.
Russian authorities notified Japanese government officials in May and June that they found two bodies--a man and a woman--on Kunashiri island, part of the disputed Northern Territories, and another body of a man on the coast of Sakhalin.
Russian authorities also told Japanese officials that DNA samples taken from the bodies matched those of Akira Soyama, a male crew member of the boat, and male and female passengers from Hokkaido, according to sources.
Japanese officials are making arrangements with Russian authorities through diplomatic channels on how the bodies should be handed over to Japan.
Sources said the two sides considered dispatching a Japan Coast Guard vessel or a private-sector ship to about midway between Hokkaido and the Northern Territories for the handover of the two bodies discovered on Kunashiri island from Russian officials in charge of border control.
But they failed to reach an agreement, according to the sources.
They are now discussing another plan to have the bodies transported by Russian officials to Sakhalin, where a Japan Coast Guard vessel would collect them, the sources said.
Coast Guard officials are continuing their search for the missing people who were aboard the Kazu I.
The officials found what appears to be a human skull on the western coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula on Aug. 14, along with jeans, sneakers and women’s underwear.
Officials suspect these items likely belonged to those unaccounted for.
Coast Guard officials and officers from Hokkaido police also discovered about 30 bones during their three-day intensive search in the coastal area that started on Aug. 18.
They are investigating whether the bones are the remains of the missing people.
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