AP

Posted: 2007-10-03 15:10:26

BANGKOK, Oct. 4 (Kyodo) – The body of slain Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai left the Myanmar city of Yangon on Wednesday and is expected to arrive in Japan on Thursday morning via Bangkok, government officials said.

Toru Yamaji, president of APF News Inc., a Tokyo-based video news provider Nagai was on contract with, is with Japanese officials bringing the body home, they said.

Speaking to reporters at a Bangkok international airport on Wednesday, Yamaji said it was “very regrettable” that he was not able to bring back the video camera that was in Nagai’s hand even after he was shot.

Nagai, 50, was covering a demonstration on Sept. 27 near Yangon’s Sule Pagoda, standing in front of security forces with a small video camera when he was shot to death.

“The main purpose of this trip is to bring back Mr. Nagai’s body as soon as possible,” Yamaji said, adding that he plans to ask for the return of the camera through the Japanese government.

On Monday, top Myanmar officials told Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka in the Myanmar capital of Naypyitaw that the shooting was “accidental,” according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

Asked about Myanmar’s explanation, Yamaji said, “I think the footage capturing the moment of the shooting has conveyed that it was not a stray bullet, but a deliberate shooting.”

Japan has said it intends to renew its call on the Myanmar junta to investigate the incident and impose stern punishments if it is determined that the shooting was intentional.

Yamaji plans to examine Nagai’s notebooks and other belongings to trace his footsteps in Myanmar.

After the body arrives at Narita airport, east of Tokyo, it will be taken later Thursday to the Metropolitan Police Department, which will perform an autopsy to find out the cause of Nagai’s death, according to the officials.