"Fire brigade in tsunami-ravaged town stood ground until the end"

"As a deadly tsunami raced toward the Iwate Prefecture town of Otsuchi on March 11, members of the local fire brigade's No. 2 branch stood their ground, desperately warning residents of the looming disaster as they raced to secure the coastal town's tide barrier.

The tsunami triggered by the magnitude 9.0 quake on March 11 left over 1,000 dead or missing in the town. Four fire brigade members were confirmed dead and seven more have still not been found. One of them, 57-year-old Fujio Koshida, continued to ring the town's warning bell until the tunami's waves swallowed him."