San Diego Man Trapped Near Japan’s Nuclear Power Plant

A San Diego man said he was trapped in Japan near six nuclear reactors he fears are in meltdown and claimed not enough was being done to prevent the spread of radiation.

Michael Eckstein, 59, spoke to KESQ via Skype on Wednesday, after a concerned friend in Palm Desert said Eckstein was in trouble.

Eckstein was once Lorretta Alderete’s golf caddy. When she heard about the earthquake in Japan, she contacted Eckstein.

At first, he told her he was worried that hadn’t heard from his daughter, who is a student at the University of Hiroshima, since the quake hit. Fortunately, he later found out she was fine.

But Eckstein is not.

“I’m making a plea on Facebook – to the Facebook world. Break the door. It’s time to break the door,” said Eckstein. “The American people want to help, but the Japanese government will not allow the personnel with helicopters and necessary coolant to extinguish this fire that is about to affect a country of 250 million people.”

Eckstein said he was staying at a friend’s apartment in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan, located 80 miles south of Tokyo and more than 100 miles away from the epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

He said that puts him 250 miles away from nuclear reactors in peril, but that doesn’t ease his fears.

“The government’s announcing that about all six reactors are in meltdown,” he said. “Expect ‘massive amounts of radiation within hours.'”

Eckstein was noticeably cold during the interview. He wore heavy clothing and said he was running out of food.

Grocery stores have been wiped out and there was no gasoline or heating oil to warm the apartment, he said.

“We are ready to run to any air-evacuation that is provided and trust me, mark my words, this situation has deteriorated every five minutes,” said Eckstein. “So, it’s an ongoing unfolding crisis.”

Eckstein claimed the Japanese government was suppressing information on the situation to the entire world, and authorities there were not allowing outside forces to help.

“If I climb to a mountaintop here, I can see the aircraft carrier,” he said. “It’s been moved out of radiation’s hard way, and it’s been sent down wind. I understand that, but its time to break the door down.”

When the earthquake hit, Eckstein said he escaped a damaged building by jumping out the second-story window. He has experienced severe aftershocks hourly in the Nagano Prefecture area.

Alderete learned of Eckstein’s situation on Facebook, and went as far as contacting Rep. Mary Bono Mack’s office for assistance.

The congresswoman’s office has contacted the U.S. Department of State and filed an inquiry.

“The mood here is surreal. People here are in disbelief,” he said. “They’re in shock. They are, not to use the expression lightly, they are in a spiritual meltdown, and these people of Japan are one of the greatest countries of people that have resolve.”

He has called the U.S. Embassy at least five times but has had no luck.

At this point, he said he has no way out.

He is calling on the American government to take action and get him and the other survivors out of harm’s way before it’s too late.

“To wait is to watch people die,” he said.