Malaysian man claims he snuck into Fukushima radiation zone for pictures
A Malaysian photographer claims to have snuck past authorities in Fukushima, Japan, for a rare look at the uninhabited city that five years ago suffered a devastating nuclear meltdown.
Keow Wee Loong, who lives in Bangkok, said on Facebook that he "snuck through the forest" to avoid the police, so he could visit empty stores and houses "frozen in time" after residents fled the area when a nuclear power plant was hit by a tsunami following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011.
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In his Facebook album, he shows pictures of a Family Mart store with goods still scattered on the ground, after the huge earthquake hit. A deserted laundromat still has clothes in the dryers.
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
It appears that Keow went to the site with his fiance, Marta Sibielak, who presumably took the pictures of Keow posing around the empty stores.
Keow said: "When I entered the red zone, I can feel a burning sensation in my eyes and thick chemical smell in the air.
"Before I went there the authority [sic] told me that I need a special permit to visit this town and it takes 3-4 weeks to get the approval from the local council... Well too much bureaucracy bullsh*t for me... So I just sneak in the forest to avoid cops on the road... AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!"
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
Image: keow wee loong/facebook
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
Image: KEOW WEE LOONG/FACEBOOK
Following the nuclear disaster, the government evacuated an estimated 154,000 people who lived in the plant's surrounding areas. Japanese environment ministry documents from June 2016 show which areas were the most impacted from the disaster:
Keow claims in his post that the radiation levels remain "very high" where he was. "I can find food, money, gold, laptops and other valuables in the red zone. I'm amazed that nobody looted this town clean."
People have reacted to his pictures with a mix of amazement and outrage. On Reddit, some netizens debated whether the paper mask he wore in some pictures was adequate coverage, and some pointed out that his clothes may have picked up radioactive material that would later pose health issues if inhaled.
This doesn't appear to be Keow's first time bending the law for a photo. In a TimeOut story, he said he scaled a 32-story building without a safety harness for a photo op.
But as scary as Keow's Japan pictures appear, Fukushima may not be as contaminated as he alluded to. It is most certainly not contaminated in a way that would cause a burning sensation in his eyes, but that may be due to something unrelated to the radioactivity in the area.
The Fukushima government declared on Tuesday more of the once-cordoned off areas were now habitable, allowing 10,000 residents to return.
Japanese papers report that the government has finished cleaning up the radiation in residential areas, and have started rebuilding infrastructure like hospitals and commercial facilities, to encourage people to come back.
Besides visitors such as Keow, personnel have been in the city for the past five years as they work to decontaminate it, cleaning structures and fields of dust and other particles that may be inhaled. They've mowed and removed topsoil from lawns, and used high-pressure washers to clean buildings and roads.
Image: date city council
