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Boats carrying Kyoto students capsize off Okinawa, fatalities reported

World ·

Boats carrying Kyoto students capsize off Okinawa, fatalities reported

Photo: Connormah · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Two boats had an accident on Monday. They were near a US military base in Japan. There were 21 people on the two boats. All 21 people fell into the water. Two people died. One was the captain of a boat. One was a woman on the boat. Two other people were hurt, but not badly. Rescuers came to help the people in the water. Eighteen of the people were high school students. They were classmates. The two boats were called Heiwa Maru and Fukutsu. The Japan Coast Guard is now looking into what happened.

Difficult words

capsize
— when a boat tips over and turns upside down in the water
rescuers
— people who help save others who are in danger
life-threatening
— serious enough that it could cause death
passengers
— people traveling on a vehicle such as a boat or plane who are not operating it

Quiz

  1. 1. How many people were on the two boats in total?
  2. 2. How many people died in the accident?
  3. 3. Who came to help the people in the water?
  4. 4. What were most of the people on the boats?