Japan: a ferry collides with a whale and injures 87 people

TOKYO (DPA) .- The Coast Guard

Japanese

reported that at least 87 people had been injured as a result of a collision between a ferry boat and a whale in the vicinity of the island of Sado, in central Japan. Five of the wounded are hospitalized with a serious prognosis, but all are aware, according to the Coast Guard.

The accident occurred around 12:15 pm (local time) when the ship took a road connecting the city of Niigata to Honsu, the main island of the Japanese archipelago, to the north. Sado Island, with 121 people on board.

The boat resumed at 1:30 pm after an hour of immobilization and the persons concerned were transferred to hospitals. The examination of the ship then revealed a 15 cm crack in the rear and damage to the hydrofoil.

Shinichiro Ikeguchi, deputy director of the Joetsu City Municipal Aquarium, Niigata, pointed out that the magnitude of the impact indicated that the vessel had struck a whale in an area used as a flyway by Minke whales and humpback whales.