KAMEOKA, Kyoto Prefecture — A father and son aboard a sightseeing boat that capsized in the Hozugawa River said how they clung together in the frigid water to survive.
The father from Osaka Prefecture said he and his son were swept down the river for 100 meters or so after the boat capsized on March 28.
He told The Asahi Shimbun that I thought I was going to die. I let myself go with the water s flow and waited to come to the shallow part of the river. The son, a fourth-grader at an elementary school, appeared exhausted after the harrowing experience.
The boat swung around and capsized, the boy said. It was dangerous to swim, so I let myself be swept away and waited until my feet touched the riverbed. I clung to my father as he was just there. The water was very cold. They ended up in a shallow part of the river and survived, the father said.
There were 29 people on the boat. One of them, a 51-year-old rower, died in the accident, while another rower remains missing.
On March 29 around 35 officers of the Kyoto prefectural police resumed their search for the missing rower around 7: 30 a.m.
The police and fire service have used a helicopter and a boat in the search of the river.
Two marine accident investigators were sent to the site by the Japan Transport Safety Board on March 29. They plan to interview people related to the accident to find out what happened.
The cruise is popular among tourists in Kyoto Prefecture.
The Kameoka-based association of pleasure boat companies suspended sightseeing boat operations on March 29 because of the accident.
The association does not know when the cruises will resume.