3 dead as strong quake shakes Japan’s Osaka

At least three people, including a child, were killed on Monday, after a strong quake rocked the second city of Osaka during the morning rush hour, Japan’s government said.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga confirmed the deaths of a child and a man, and said a third person was also feared dead in the quake.

“At this point we have information that two people died,” he told reporters, adding that 20 people had been injured. Local police said the child was a nine-year-old girl who died in the city of Takatsuki, north of Osaka city, with media reporting she was trapped whena wall collapsed on her at school following the 5.3-magnitude quake.

Public broadcaster NHK said the man was an 80-year-old who had also been killed by a collapsing wall, and that the third fatality was a man trapped under a bookcase in his home.

There were no immediate reports of major damage and no tsunami warning was issued after the powerful quake, which stranded commuters and left tens of thousands without power.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters the government was “working united, with its first priority on saving people’s lives”.

Source: AFP