More than 2,000 Chinese evacuated from NE Japan

BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese news agency said Wednesday that more than 2,000 Chinese have been evacuated from Japan's northeast following radiation leaks at a nuclear power plant.

The China News Service quoted a spokesman of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, Deng Wei, as saying that more than 2,000 people were evacuated from Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and other quake-hit areas by Wednesday morning and taken to Tokyo and Niigata.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo said on its website about 33,000 Chinese were in Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Iwate prefectures, the hardest-hit provinces.

Xinhua News Agency said Chinese airlines are adding flights to Japan to help in the evacuation.

Other countries have advised their citizens to leave the stricken area or avoid travel to Japan.