A 45-year-old woman drowned after she tried to rescue her child who had been caught by a big wave in Kikonai town, Hokkaido, on Sunday.
According to police and the fire department, Miyuki Yamamoto, a resident of Hokuto City, was walking along the beach with her child at around 10:30 a.m. when her child got into difficulty after being hit by a wave, NHK reported.
It is believed that Yamamoto was caught in the waves as she pulled her child to safety, and was swept out to sea. A passerby saw the incident and called 119.
Yamamoto was rescued by emergency personnel but she was in a state of cardio-respiratory arrest and was confirmed dead at a hospital.
In another incident in Hokkaido, the Japan Coast Guard received a report that "someone appears to be drowning" at a beach in Otaru City.
According to the Japan Coast Guard, a 27-year-old Vietnamese man who lives in Sapporo City, went missing while swimming. Police and the fire department searched unsuccessfully for him.
© Japan Today
14 Comments
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GuruMick
Theres a lot to learn about beach safety.
Long interval swells, as happens with typhoons, can make the sea shore appear calm for 15 minutes or more....then the next set of waves appear.
Mocheake
Very tragic. RIP to the victims.
WA4TKG
R I P
Mr Kipling
What can we learn about going swimming in the sea during a typhoon?
kiwiboy
If you aren't a VERY competent swimmer and VERY confident around water, go to the pool instead of the beach or river.
Cephus
A sad tragic story. RIP Miyuki san
TokyoLiving
Very tragic..
This is why I never put a foot on the sea, no matter how calm it looks..
餓死鬼
Would you do it to save your child, as seems to have been the case with Ms. Yamamoto?
Ah_so
A bit overcautious.
nandakandamanda
Tragic story, but no mention in the article about what happened to her child.
Sad for a child losing their mother…
Peeping_Tom
"Tragic story, but no mention in the article about what happened to her child."
"Yamamoto was caught in the waves as she pulled her child to safety"
"Pulled to safety", the inference is he's alive and well.
nandakandamanda
Found a fuller article which explained at the end how she managed to hand her child to her husband, but how she was somehow caught by a wave and pulled out.
Mrs Yamamoto was brought back by the currents to the beach about 30 minutes later but found unconscious.
Canucksfan
TokyoLivingAug. 12 11:54 am JST
Very tragic..
Yeah, I hear what you’re saying, but your chances of dying from walking on the beach are probably less than dying in a car accident. Sorry, I don’t have the numbers to back this up though. It still a very tragic accident though.
Yrral
There will be waves as high as 25 ft ,this weekend,when a storm pass Tokyo this weekend