Scores of schools in South Korea were closed today as teachers and parents panicked over fears that falling rain could be carrying radiation from Japan's crippled nuclear plant.
As rain swept across the Korean capital, Seoul, and the surrounding Gyeonggi province, classes were cancelled or cut back and children were hurried to their homes.
Seoul is around 750 miles from the damaged nuclear plant at Fukushima and since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami radiation has been leaking into the atmosphere and the sea, contaminating vegetables, meat and fish nearby.
Concerns grew when the capital's weather agency said that radioactive material from the Fukushima plant might be carried to South Korea by south-easterly winds.
When the rain began to fall, the provincial education office in Gyeonggi province ordered the closure of schools as part of 'pre-emptive measures for the safety of students'.
A spokesman said schools had been ordered to cancel or shorten classes because of 'growing anxiety among students and parents over conflicting claims on the safety of radiation exposure'.
Schools particularly affected by the closures were in rural areas where students have to walk long distances to their classes, exposing them to prolonged periods in the rain.
Schools which have remained open have been told to suspend all outdoor activities.
At first, education officials refused to take any action, but as reports continued to flow about the leakage of radiation into the sea at Fukushima the pressure on the authorities mounted.
One parent wrote: 'Please order class cancellation. I'm worried to death about my kid and can't sleep.'
Finally authorities gave in, ordering scores of schools to be closed and telling others to postpone baseball, outdoor basketball, football and other sports.
Government officials have tried to calm the population by insisting that the amount of radioactive material in rainfall is too small to pose any health threat.
Education offices have been urged to do all they can to 'stop making parents nervous'.
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