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Chiba man drowns trying to save Chinese national

A male company employee drowned off the coast of Ichikawa City on Saturday
A male company employee drowned off the coast of Ichikawa City on Saturday

CHIBA (TR) – A male company employee drowned on Saturday trying to save a man who was drowning in waters off Ichikawa City.

Emergency authorities received a report saying a man in his 30s who dove into the sea to try and save another nearly drowning man of Chinese nationality had sunk beneath the surface at around 4:20 p.m. in waters off Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, NHK reports (June 11).

Police said the Chinese man swam back to the embankment on his own. He was thought to be an acquaintance of the man who drowned, who was asked by a local fishermen’s cooperative to keep watch for fish poaching.

Authorities arrived at the scene about an hour after the report to find the body of Jun Sasaki, 34, floating on the surface roughly 10 meters out from the embankment. The body was transported to the hospital where the man’s death was confirmed.

An investigation is under way to determine the details of the incident, which comes after two individuals drowned near the site last year in June when collecting shellfish.