Azkal midfielder Simon Greatwich has safely landed in Osaka, Japan. Earlier, there was no word from Greatwich, as Narita airport was closed after the massive earthquake on Friday afternoon.
Greatwich told GMA News Online that the Tokyo airport was closed and that his flight was diverted to Osaka. He said he is now in contact with team officials.
Simon's brother Chris and fellow Azkal tweeted: "Apparently Simon is stuck in Osaka airport, but is okay."
Another Azkal, defender Jason Sabio, arrived at the Tokyo airport from Alabama, USA at around 3:00 p.m. on Friday via Japan Airlines.
At around 7:00 p.m., he tweeted that he and the other passengers were still stranded inside the plane.
He said when the plane landed in Japan, the ground was still shaking. He stressed, however, that all of them were safe.
Earlier this evening, GMA News Online reported that there was no word yet from Simon. He saw the story, reposted it on his Facebook fan page, and wrote: "DONT WORRY GMA IM OK!"
The rest of the team were already in Japan when the earthquake struck but team manager Dan Palami tweeted that they were safe.
The Azkals are conducting high-altitude training in Gotemba City (with an elevation of 1,500 feet), Honshu, on the eastern foot of Mount Fuji, south of Tokyo, Japan.
They have been in Japan since Monday as part of their training to acclimatize themselves to the cold Mongolian temperature for their match against the Blue Wolves, the Mongolian national team, on Tuesday, March 15.
The United States Geological Survey estimated the epicenter at 130 kilometers (km) east of Sendai, Honshu; 178 km east of Yamagata, Honshu; 178 km east-northeast of Fukushima, Honshu; or 373 km northeast of Tokyo.-- with reports from Miakka Lim and Mav Gonzales, GMA News
/via GMA News (3/11/2011 9:30 PM)
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