A court in Japan has reportedly ruled that Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) and the government are liable for negligence in a case involving compensation for the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
It's the first time the judiciary has ruled the state has liability.
The district court in Maebashi, north of Tokyo, ruled in favour of 137 evacuees seeking damages for the emotional distress of fleeing their homes as radiation spread from the meltdowns at Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi plant after an earthquake and tsunami six years ago, the Mainichi newspaper and other media reported.
While courts have ruled in favour of plaintiffs and awarded damages arising from the disaster, it was the first time a court has recognised that the government was liable, the Mainichi said.
Tepco said in a statement it would review the contents of the ruling before making a response.
In the world's worst nuclear calamity since Chernobyl in 1986, three reactors at Tepco's Fukushima plant suffered meltdowns after a magnitude 9 earthquake in March 2011 triggered a tsunami that devastated a swathe of Japan's northeastern coastline and killed more than 15,000 people.
