Victims of 1985 Japan Airlines plane crash remembered

People have gathered in the eastern Japanese prefecture of Gunma to remember the victims of the country’s deadliest plane crash. The accident occurred 39 years ago in the prefecture.

A Japan Airlines jumbo jet crashed into a mountain ridge in Ueno Village on August 12, 1985. The accident left 520 passengers and crew members dead.

On Sunday, relatives of the victims and others floated memorial lanterns down a river near the crash site.
The mourners wrote messages to the victims on the lanterns and prayed for transportation safety.

Miyajima Kuniko lost her second son, Ken. The boy was 9 years old at the time of the accident. Miyajima serves as the secretary general of a group of bereaved families.

The 77-year-old says members of the group remember their loved ones every year. She says she wants to play a role in passing information about the accident to the next generation.

On Monday, the relatives and others will head to the crash site on Osutaka Ridge. They will attend a memorial service, which will be held in the evening.

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