'They're leaving us to die' - mayor of quake hit town

WITH supplies running low, fuel scarce and rescue teams hesitant to venture near the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, residents of Minamisoma in Japan sink further into despair as they see no means of escape.

Minamisoma is situated about 20 km from the plant where an explosion occurred in one of the reactors on Saturday. A 20km exclusion zone around the plant had been declared by rescuers.

But a local television team - which provided BBC with its exclusive footage - entered the exclusion zone to talk to the people trapped there.

Katsunobu Sakurai, the mayor of Minamisoma, told the local television team that supplies are running out.

He added: 'The government doesn't tell us anything. We're isolated'

Residents expressed that they felt cheated and 'abandoned' by the government, because they learnt about the reactor explosion from the television and that nothing is being done to help them.

'They're leaving us to die.'

ORIGINAL SOURCE