Tokyo, March 16: A large number of Indians stood in queues at the Narita International airport here on Wednesday in their desperate move to return home, reports Nishant Chaturvedi, India TV correspondent from Tokyo.
The exodus of foreign nationals from Japan has been trigerred by the series of fires and explosions at the trouble-ridden Fukushima nuclear power plant, and people throughout Japan are fearing that a huge amount of radiation may emanate from Ground Zero and head towards populated cities.
India TV correspondent spoke to a number of Indians and Bangladeshis who described their woes since the temblor and tsunami struck the island nation on Friday.
Those left behind are praying for the wind to save them from a new radiation nightmare.
The airport of Japan's quake-hit capital was besieged as levels of the invisible killer (radiation) soared to ten times the normal level there
Weathermen predicted a looming change in the wind could send a deadly plume over Tokyo.
Nuclear analyst John Large said of the threat from the skies: "Particles will be encased in water droplets, making the ground radioactive."
Drivers queued at petrol stations for up to ten hours to fill their tanks and flee - ignoring official reassurances that contamination was still low and they were not in danger.
According to The Sun, Banker Matt Saunderson, 33 - among Brits determined to get families clear - said: "I'm sending my wife and children home.
"It doesn't matter what the Japanese authorities are saying - when it comes to nuclear fallout, or the risk of it, I'm not taking chances with my kids."
Those frantic to jet home found flights to London booked solid for the next two weeks.
Banker Matt, from Guildford in Surrey, said: "The city feels eerie and scared."
Fellow Brit David Williams said after sending his own family out of the city: "If the wind does change as predicted it will be blowing towards Tokyo.
"Like Japanese people, I don't believe what we are being told. I'm worried information is being kept from the public. I have a bag packed by the door and I have a motorbike to avoid the crowds."
Ten-year-old Lucy Niver said as she jetted home to the US: "I'm scared."
America has advised citizens to avoid travel to Japan. US Navy reinforcements sent to help the tsunami rescue effort were arriving to the west - after ships based off the east coast recorded increased radiation
On Tuesday, China began evacuating all 22,155 of its citizens from Japan's north-east - most of them factory workers.
Austria was moving its Tokyo embassy 250 miles to Osaka. France recommended citizens leave the Japanese capital, which yesterday saw an orgy of panic-buying by residents who fear they may be ordered to hole up indoors.
The multi-storey Don Quixote store in Roppongi district sold out of radios, torches, candles and sleeping bags.
Confusion about how to combat the reactor meltdowns appeared to reign - with claims Japan's PM was angrily forced to order the Tokyo Electric Power Company not to pull crews out.
PTI adds: All Indian nationals in Japan are safe and the country's mission here is facilitating return of those wishing to leave the quake-ravaged region, India's top diplomat to Tokyo said today.
"We are very thankful that there have been no casualties among Indian nationals despite this very major disaster, and all Indians are safe," Indian Ambassador Aloke Prasad said.
He said that a group of Indians, who had been stranded in Sendai -- one of the worst affected areas in the magnitude-9 quake and massive tsunami that rocked Japan on Friday last, were moved to the Japanese capital.
"We first moved them to a hotel because they were scattered in different evacuation centres. Today, we moved them as a group to Tokyo. Many of them want to go back to their homes and are leaving for India," the envoy told a private Indian channel, adding that these people have not faced any danger of radiation.
The Indian ambassador in quake-hit Japan today met representatives of the 25,000-strong Indian community there to ascertain their views about their plans and assistance needed by them in the wake of last Friday's disaster.
Indian Ambassador in Japan Alok Prasad had an interaction with the community representatives to know about their future plans and how the government could help them, official sources said.
After Japan was hit by giant tidal waves caused by a massive earthquake, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had spoken to Prasad and said all Indian national were safe as per the available information.
Krishna had said the embassy will "do whatever is possible" to help the Indians and a helpline has been set up there for assistance.
On Sunday, 30 Indians in Tanida, one of the tsunami-hit areas in Japan, had been shifted to a hotel, according to official information reaching here. The Indian community is concentrated in and around Tokyo.
With Japan facing the danger of nuclear radiation, IT majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro have offered their employees there the option of coming back home while allowing local workers to shift to safer locations. PTI
