‘They're leaving us to die': Mayor of town near stricken Japanese nuclear plant claims his people have been ‘abandoned’

'We've been left to die': Minamisoma's mayor Katsunobu Sakarai told the BBC his people felt alone and in danger

Residents of a town lying within the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant claim they have been neglected by the Japanese government.

Minamisoma lies just 12 miles from the nuclear plant in crisis and villagers have been ordered to remain in their homes as their community lies on the edge of the state-ordered evacuation zone.

But as tonnes of water were dumped on the plant as the government attempted to prevent overheating, the mayor of Minamisoma has accused the authorities of ignoring his ‘isolated’ people’s plight.

‘They are leaving us to die,’ Katsunobu Sakarai told the BBC in a video interview.

‘We weren’t told when the first reactor exploded – we only heard about it on the TV. The government doesn’t tell us anything.’

Staff at the small town’s hospital have remained with their patients although Minamisoma would be at a high risk of contamination should the plant at Fukushima enter meltdown.

‘We're not really supposed to be here but this is our job,’ said Dr Yukio Kanazawa.

‘I really resent the nuclear plant.’

Supplies are said to be running low in the town, which has a population of around 1,700 and with fears of an imminent nuclear crisis, residents are receiving little help from relief teams.

Complaints from the abandoned people of Minamisoma come as the Japanese authorities resorted to dumping water on over-heating reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant from helicopters in a desperate last-ditch attempt to stop a catastrophic meltdown.

Experts have warned that they have 48 hours to avoid another Chernobyl.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367208/Japan-tsunami-earthquake-Mayor-claims-people-abandoned.html#ixzz1GshTHxT3