Classmates and neighbors continued Friday to dig out debris with shovels in their search for Shotaro Ueki, an 18-year-old high school student in Hiroshima
HIROSHIMA – Classmates and neighbors continued Friday to dig out debris with shovels in their search for Shotaro Ueki, an 18-year-old high school student in Hiroshima who went missing in the wake of last week’s torrential rains that caused devastating landslides and flooding across western Japan.
In response to a Twitter message calling for help, many volunteers joined Ueki’s mother to look for her son, who is believed to have been engulfed by a landslide in the city of Hiroshima.
“He is a caring person. I want to find him as soon as possible,” said Ryota Ogawa, 17, who was in the same tennis club as Ueki.
Going home from school usually together by bicycle, Ogawa recalled that the two teenagers enjoyed “animated conversations” about tennis.
On the night of July 6, Ueki was alone at his home. Anxious about the heavy rains, his 45-year-old mother telephoned her son on her way home from work.
She told him to evacuate to his grandfather’s home but he hung up the phone after saying he would be fine because he was on the second floor.
