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Tsunami survivor battles wildfire threatening same Japanese town

Tom Bateman/Reuters

29 April 2026 at 14:34:24


Ryota Haga lost his family home to the 2011 tsunami. Now, as a volunteer firefighter, he's fighting a wildfire raging for six days in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. More than 1,600 hectares have burned. Haga speaks about fatigue, déjà vu, and his concern for whether future generations will be there to fight the next disaster.

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