Some quake survivors will be compensated

TOKYO, June 16 (UPI) -- The families of 330 government employees who were killed or went missing in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will be compensated, Japanese officials said.

Most of the dead or lost were swept away in the massive tsunami that followed the deadly quake, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday.

Officials didn't give a number, but said the compensation paid to the families is expected to reach record levels. Some local governments applied for the benefits on behalf of citizens, the report said.

More than 20,000 people were either killed or went missing following the disaster, which also severely damaged reactors at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The Local Government Employees' Accident Compensation Fund said it would also consider claims if a dead or missing worker was en route to work when the earthquake struck.

The fund normally has about 50 cases a year, and in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 just 10 local government workers were killed while on duty, largely because few were working when the quake hit, the newspaper said.