U.S. Ospreys Join Disaster Drill in Wakayama Pref.

Wakayama, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)--Two MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft of the U.S. Marine Corps joined a disaster drill conducted by the prefectural government of Wakayama, western Japan, on Sunday. Participants practiced transporting emergency supplies and injured people, assuming tsunami that could be caused by a major earthquake occurring at the Nankai Trough off Japan's Pacific coast. It is the first time for the Osprey aircraft to be used in a disaster drill organized by a local government in Japan. The two Ospreys arrived at Nanki Shirahama Airport in the town of Shirahama in the prefecture around 9:30 a.m. (12:30 a.m. GMT). The Ospreys then left for the cape of Shionomisaki at the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula, where the prefecture is located, with one of them carrying medical staff and the other transporting drinking water and other relief goods. At the cape, in the town of Kushimoto, some 150 local people cooperated in unloading the goods. The Ospreys transported eight Wakayama prefectural government officials who acted as injured people to a Japanese Maritime-Self-Defense Force vessel anchored off the cape for treatment. The Ospreys were refueled on the ship. The aircraft are among the 24 MV-22 Ospreys deployed at the Marine Corps' Futenma air station in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa. Seiya Kiyama, 75, one of the local residents who joined the drill, said, "There are a lot of opinions about Ospreys, but what is most important is saving lives." At a press conference after the drill, Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka said, "We must save as many lives as possible" once a disaster occurs, adding that he would welcome U.S. troops and Ospreys in that event. END