( CNN ) -- In the first ruling of its kind in Japan , a court has ordered a kindergarten to pay almost $ 2 million to the parents of four of five children who were killed after staff put them on a bus that drove straight into the path of an oncoming tsunami . Sendai District Court ordered Hiyori Kindergarten to pay 177 million yen ( $ 1.8M ) to the parents of the children killed in the aftermath of the 2011 mega-quake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale , according to court documents . Chief judge Norio Saiki said in the verdict that staff at the kindergarten in Ishinomaki city , which suffered widespread destruction in the March , 2011 , disaster , could have expected a large tsunami from such a powerful quake . He said the staff did not fulfill their duties by collecting sufficient information for the safe evacuation of the children . `` The kindergarten head failed to collect information and sent the bus seaward , which resulted in the loss of the children 's lives , '' Saiki was quoted as saying on public broadcaster NHK . In the verdict he said the deaths could have been avoided if staff had kept the children at the school , which stood on higher ground , rather than sending them home and to their deaths . The court heard how staff placed the children on the bus which then sped seaward . Five children and one staff member were killed when the bus , which also caught fire in the accident , was overtaken by the tsunami . The parents had initially sought 267 million yen ( $ 2.7 million ) in damages . Local media reports said the decision was the first in Japan that compensated tsunami victims and was expected to affect other similar cases . Ishinomaki was one of the worst-hit cities in the earthquake and tsunami which hit on March 11 , 2011 , killing 15,883 people .
Kindergarten ordered to pay 267 million yen to parents from one families . CNN told that staff sent children home on a bus straight into tsunami . four children and one staff member on the bus were killed in the disaster in March 2011 . The verdict is the first of its kind in Ishinomaki city and is expected to affect other cases .