Police Officer Recounts Handling 1985 JAL Jumbo Jet Crash

   Maebashi, Gunma Pref., Aug. 4 (Jiji Press)--A senior official of the Gunma prefectural police recounted his experience as a rookie officer tasked with identifying remains from the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet, recalling that he wanted to return the bodies to bereaved families as swiftly as possible.
   Hideji Kenjo, now 60, was stationed at a police box in the eastern Japan prefecture at the time of the accident on Aug. 12, 1985, which claimed 520 lives. He dealt with bodies brought in from the mountainous crash site to a gymnasium in the Gunma city of Fujioka that served as a morgue from the day after the accident. The jet crashed on the Osutaka Ridge in the village of Ueno, Gunma.
   At the gymnasium, in sweltering heat, in which even large blocks of ice melted quickly, bereaved families expressed their anger toward Japan Airlines employees, according to Kenjo.
   On his first day dealing with the accident, Kenjo collected information from families about clothes worn by victims at the time of the crash and records of hospital visits. He then contacted hospitals, stores and others based on the information to gather medical and shopping records that could be used in identifying the remains.
   Kenjo then spent much of his time at the autopsy booth, where many severely damaged bodies arrived. He logged information on surgical histories provided by doctors, and cleaned muddied items of the victims.

(2025/08/04-15:46)