Bus Tour Of Kobe Canceled Travel Agency Lambasted For Offering Quake Damage Trip

A travel agency offering a weekend bus tour of areas devastated by the Kobe earthquake canceled its plans Wednesday following strong criticism from quake victims.

The agency had advertised a fourhour tour of areas damaged by the Jan. 17 quake and said it would donate part of the $170 ticket price to quake victims.

But a report about the tour in the Mainichi newspaper triggered strong criticism, and the idea was dropped.

Nearly 190,000 people were left homeless by the quake, Japan’s worst natural disaster in more than 70 years. Many still are living in 541 makeshift relief shelters in Kobe and have complained previously about visitors taking pictures of them.

The Mainichi quoted an official at the travel agency, which it did not name, as saying the tour had been intended “to deepen understanding of anti-disaster steps.”

In other quake-related news Wednesday:

The death toll reached 5,291, with six people still missing. More than 26,800 were injured.

Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama rebuffed opposition demands that he step down for his handling of the disaster.

Officials estimated that quake damage will exceed $100 billion and that more than 10,000 people are unemployed because of the quake.

The president of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Japan’s main telephone company, said it would spend $800 million over five years to rebuild Kobe’s phone system.