Monday, March 14, 2011

Scenes Of Devastation In Tsunami-Hit Sendai


Hundreds of car wrecks lie strewn, panels beaten into unrecognisable forms, windows blown out, debris everywhere.

We enter the remains of what looks like a car showroom.

There are bricks everywhere and it is not clear where they have come from. Everything seems to have travelled a long way.

There is an acrid smoke here and you realise it has come from a fire involving several cars.

We do not know if there have been people in these cars. A giant TV lies shattered on the ground, having been dragged out of a nearby building.

There is a key ring factory over the road and cans from that factory litter the ground. Every now and again gusts of wind pick them up.

One car in the showroom is particularly difficult to look at.

The front and rear windscreens are smashed and the doors hang open. In the boot you can see nappies, sodden clothes and an abandoned teddy bear.

A row of teddy bears can be seen on the back seats, next to a child seat. I do not want to touch anything in case someone comes back.

There is a picture on the front seat, perhaps of the car’s occupants.