Tokyo High Court Rejects Claim over Mt. Ontake Deaths

   Tokyo, Oct. 21 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo High Court on Monday rejected a claim that deaths and injuries from the 2014 eruption of Mount Ontake were due to the Japan Meteorological Agency's failure to raise the volcanic alert level for the central Japan mountain.
   Presiding Judge Takeo Tsutsui upheld a lower court ruling dismissing a damages claim by victims' families and overturned the lower court's finding that JMA officials violated their duty of care.
   The 32 plaintiffs had demanded a total of 376 million yen from the central and Nagano prefectural governments over the volcanic disaster that left 58 people dead and five others missing.
   In July 2022, the Matsumoto branch of Nagano District Court determined that agency officials had neglected the duty of care by maintaining the alert level for the volcano, which straddles the prefectures of Nagano and Gifu, at Level 1 without sufficiently considering data that may have hinted at future eruptions.
   Still, the branch did not recognize a causal relationship between the officials' actions and the deaths and injuries of hikers, saying that entry restrictions would not have been introduced in time even if the alert level had been raised.

(2024/10/21-19:25)