378 students killed with 158 others missing in March 11 disaster+

TOKYO, April 27 Kyodo -
The March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan killed 378 elementary, junior high and senior high school students and left 158 others missing, the boards of education in the three hardest-hit prefectures said Wednesday.
Most of the victims were those who left school before or just after the 2:46 p.m. earthquake and faced ensuing tsunami waves, while students who stayed at school buildings mostly survived the disaster, they said.
If the magnitude 9.0 quake had come one hour later, a far greater number of students could have been killed or left missing, the board in Iwate Prefecture said.
The total of 536 killed and missing students was limited to the three prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.
The 378 students who have been confirmed killed by the disaster comprised 273 in Miyagi, 59 in Fukushima and 46 in Iwate. Those missing included 74 in Miyagi, 52 in Iwate and 32 in Fukushima.
The total of 536 student victims consisted of 234 elementary, 111 junior high and 191 senior high school students.
The death toll from the disaster came to 14,517 with 11,432 others left missing in 12 prefectures as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, the National Policy Agency said.
The NPA earlier said that 92 percent of bodies examined by April 11 in the three hardest-hit prefectures were confirmed as having died of drowning. Of the drowned people, 65 percent were aged 60 or older. Less than 4 percent were aged 9 or under.