A 62-year-old evacuee from Fukushima Prefecture made a brief visit to his radiation-contaminated home , walked to his shuttered shop , and then hanged himself in a storage space . The death is yet another sad reminder how the March 11 , 2011 , disaster in Japan continues to claim victims . On that day , a magnitude-9 earthquake triggered a tsunami which swamped the Fukushima Daiichi plant , knocking out power to cooling systems and leading to meltdowns in its three operating reactors . The earthquake and tsunami left more than 15,000 dead . While no deaths have been directly attributed to the nuclear disaster , the resulting release of radioactivity forced residents of several towns near the plant to flee their homes , and a 20-kilometer ( 12.5-mile ) zone around the plant remains closed to the public . The man , who was not named by police , was one of tens of thousands who were evacuated from the area . He and his wife were briefly granted entry into the exclusion zone around the plant on Sunday , to visit their home and their small store , police said . After the wife reported him missing , officers and volunteer firefighters in the town of Namie organized a search , police said . The following day , firefighters found the man 's body in his store 's storage shed . Naka Shimizu , a local government spokesman and a friend of the victim , told CNN that when he heard the reports that the man was missing , he feared the man had killed himself . `` There are so many people ( in my town ) who have lost hope . This affects their health , '' he said . Shimizu , an evacuee himself , expressed frustration over the plight of the 70,000 evacuees of the nuclear disaster and the governmental paralysis in caring for the people of his town . Shimizu pointed the finger at the national government , saying Tokyo 's leaders just want to get the town to accept radiation-contaminated debris on an interim basis , without offering any long-term plan to manage all the evacuees . The evacuees have yet to receive any sizable compensation or a timetable on when , or if , they 'll ever be able to return to their homes , he said . `` The people of Namie are increasingly depressed about the future . We do n't have a clear future or see any achievable targets , '' said Shimizu . He said he knew of four or five people in Namie who had committed suicide and more than 100 who had died of illness during the evacuation . Japanese media reported the man complained of insomnia from the stress of the evacuation and his inability to make a living .
Evacuee from Fukushima commits suicide after brief visit to contaminated home . He was one of tens of thousands who were evacuated . Score: 7 `` There are so many people ( in my town ) who have lost hope , '' his friend says .