Most of Japan’s tsunami victims were elderly

Family members take a last look at a loved one during a burial ceremony for the March 11 tsunami victims in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan last month. Japanese police reports that 65 per cent of those dead were older that 60 years.

New data from Japan’s National Police Agency shows that two-thirds of the victims identified so far in last month’s tsunami were elderly and most of them drowned.

The agency said in a release this week that as of a month after the March 11 disaster, 65 percent of the 11,108 confirmed fatalities of known age were 60 or older. Another 1,899 identified victims were of unknown age. Adding those who are still missing, the disaster killed an estimated 27,500 people.

The agency also reported that nearly 93 percent of the victims had drowned. Others died from fires, being crushed or other causes.

The earthquake and tsunami hit the rural, northeastern coast where there were higher concentrations of elderly residents.