(THE TELEGRAPH) – The families of 23 children who died after they were swept away during Japan’s 2011 tsunami are suing the authorities over their failure to swiftly evacuate pupils. The victims attended Okawa School in Ishinomaki, where 74 of 108 pupils enrolled at the school and 10 out of 13 staff were killed when the tsunami hit three years ago.

Relatives of 23 of the children are currently suing the elementary school as well as the city and prefectural governments, claiming that a failure to evacuate swiftly resulted in their deaths. The group of families, who launched proceedings this week at Sendai District Court, are seeking £586,000 (100 million yen) in damages for each child.

It was on March 11, 2011 that a major earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan triggered a widespread tsunami, resulting in extensive devastation and more than 18,000 killed or still missing. REDMORE ON http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10845410/Families-of-23-children-swept-away-in-Japans-tsunami-sue-school.html