OVERSEAS trips planned by two Bathurst high schools are in serious doubt following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Denison College’s Bath-
urst High campus and MacKillop College had both been preparing to send students to Japan in just three weeks.
But both schools have put their plans on hold as they wait to hear more news from the disaster-hit regions, including fears of a nuclear meltdown.
Bathurst High’s principal Geoff Hastings said a group of students were planning to visit their sister school in Ohkuma, Toyo High.
Ohkuma was devastated by the initial earthquake last Friday and parts of it were then flattened by the tsunami.
On top of that,the damaged building housing reactor one at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant is only five kilometres away from the town.
“Our students are meant to be going to Ohkuma in three weeks,” Mr Hastings said.
“We have sent a letter home to parents and a final decision on whether we go or not will be made on Wednesday.”
The situation is slightly better for the MacKillop College students, with their trip taking them to Tokyo before heading south to Asaka, an area less devastated by the disaster.
However, staff yesterday told the Western Advocate that a final decision on that trip was also “on hold” for the moment.
Bathurst Regional Council is also waiting to hear if a delegation from sister city Ohkuma that was due to arrive in Australia will still be coming.
Yesterday a 5.8 magnitude quake – one of many aftershocks since Friday’s massive 9 quake – struck at a depth of 18 kilometres off Ibaraki prefecture, shaking tall buildings in Japan’s capital.
According to Japanese Red Cross figures, 300,000 people were evacuated or displaced across north-east Japan and up to 70,000 of those have gathered at 200 shelters in the devastated area around Sendai.