Panamanians exit Japan after countrys worst disaster since WW II

Most of the Panamanians who were in Japan during the devastating earthquake which reached 9.0 on the Richter scale, are on their way home.

The country’s Security Minister, Jose Raul Mulino, was one of the first to leave and  has already reached Los Angeles  en route  to Panama.
Over 4000 deaths have been recorded in Japan following the quake and the giant tsunami that followed, creating the country’s biggest crisis since World War II. The death toll is expected to rocket past the early estimates  as in one town alone over 10,000 people are missing.

Vice President and Foreign Minister, Juan Carlos Varela, said Sunday that 114 Panamanians were registered in  the Panamanian Embassy and 77 have already left.
Many of them were taking courses at Japanese universities including the university in Sendai, the city nearest the epi-center of the quake in the north of Japan. One student, Fernando Javier Wong, who is on a four year computer sciences course in the University of Tokyo, was in of the top floors of a Municipal tower when the quake struck.  The city now faces massive power cuts, which are being spread across the country.