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Japan’s National Daily Since 1922
(Mainichi Japan)
Japanese version
MITO — A man died while trying to save his son and another child from drowning at a beach in the eastern Japan city of Hokota in Ibaraki Prefecture, on Aug. 21.
Two boys, aged 13 and 9, both residents of the nearby city of Tsuchiura, were seconds away from drowning while swimming at a beach in Hokota at around 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 21. The 13-year-old boy’s father Yoshitaka Fabio Okino, 55, a Brazilian national, tried to save the children, but he was sucked under a wave. He was later found unconscious and confirmed dead at the hospital. The two boys sustained minor injuries.
According to Ibaraki Prefectural Police’s Hokota Police Station, Okino had gone to the beach to go swimming from around 9 a.m. in a group of four including his son and a friend, and three other people including the 9-year-old boy later joined them. Okino was apparently on the shore when the two boys almost drowned, but he entered the sea following a call for help.
Okino and his son were reportedly rescued by two men on personal watercraft, and the other child was rescued by Okino’s friend, who had entered the sea with him.
The site was near an artificial headland, police said.
(Japanese original by Minori Nagaya, Mito Bureau)
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