'GHOST PASSENGERS'

Horrified cabbies pick up 'GHOST PASSENGERS' in area devastated by 2011 Japan tsunami

In each instance, the story is similar.

A taxi driver in north-east Japan picks up a passenger in an area devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

He starts the meter and asks for the destination, to which the customer gives a strange response.

Either then, or sometime later, the driver turns around to address the man or woman - but the passenger has vanished.

This is because, it is claimed, it was a 'ghost passenger' who was, in fact, killed in the disaster five years ago.

At least seven taxi drivers in Ishinomaki have reported such an experience of a 'phantom fare', according to The Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

The coastal town in Miyagi Prefecture was among the regions most seriously affected by the deadly tsunami, which killed nearly 16,000 people in total.

More than 3,000 Ishinomaki residents lost their lives in the tragedy, including 70 students and nine staff members at Ishinomaki Okawa Elementary School.

Ms Kudo said that her research suggests that the drivers believed they were picking up genuine passengers - because they each started their meters.

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