TOKYO, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government has appealed a court ruling in favor of providing health care benefits to those exposed to radioactive "black rain" that fell after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
The Hiroshima District Court late last month ruled in favor of 84 plaintiffs in their 70s to 90s, some of whom have passed away.
The court said that victims should be eligible for the same state health benefits as those who survived the atomic bombing and were in the same zone where the government has recognized that radioactive "black rain" fell.
The court also ruled it was possible that "black rain" fell outside of the designated area and hence it was reasonable to conclude the plaintiffs were affected by radiation and developed diseases only associated with radiation and the same as the atomic bomb survivors, including cancer.
At issue, however, is the range of the zone designated by the government as being affected by the nuclear rain, Japan's welfare minister Katsunobu Kato said on Wednesday when announcing the government's decision to appeal the Hiroshima District Court's landmark ruling last month.
The state's designated area lies northwest of the hypocenter of the atomic bombing and measures roughly 19 km in length and 11 km in width.
Kato maintained that the district court's ruling was unscientific in its basis, a claim that drew a harsh backlash from the plaintiffs.
Along with their legal counsel, the plaintiffs lambasted the central government at a press briefing for attempting to use "scientific evidence as an excuse for appealing the ruling because it is obvious that the effect of the nuclear attack damaged their health."
Kato said the central government would take into consideration the possibility of adjusting the area it has designated as warranting state health care support for those who suffered from the "black rain" after the atomic bomb, that was dropped by the United States Army Air Forces on Aug. 6, 1945, eviscerated wide swathes of Hiroshima.
"We will examine the designated zone with a sense of speed, eyeing the possibility of expanding it in consideration of aging atomic bomb survivors," Kato told a press briefing on the matter.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for his part, said the government decided to appeal the court's ruling to a higher court due to disparities between the district court's ruling and the previous ruling by a Supreme Court.
"Meanwhile, we will firmly take measures to support hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) who went through agonies that were beyond description," Abe said. Enditem
