Bereaved families of victims of an accident involving the Kazu I sightseeing tour boat off Hokkaido in 2022 sued the boat's operator and its president for damages on Wednesday.
In the lawsuit filed with the Sapporo District Court, the plaintiffs, including the 29 family members of 14 passengers of the sunken boat, are seeking some ¥1.5 billion ($9.2 million) in damages from Shiretoko Yuransen, the boat's operator based in the Hokkaido town of Shari, and its president, Seiichi Katsurada, 61.
In the afternoon on April 23, 2022, the boat sank off the coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula in the eastern part of Hokkaido, leaving 20 passengers and crew members aboard dead and six others missing.