Aircraft leaves Japan for Greece to collect Olympic flame

An aircraft set to carry the Olympic flame from Athens to Japan for the torch relay departed from Haneda International Airport. Organisers scrapped a ceremonial event that was to include athletes over concerns of infection from the coronavirus. A small reception is planned on Friday when the Olympic flame arrives from Greece at an airbase in north Japan. The torch relay is scheduled to start in Fukushima prefecture as planned on 26th March with severe limits on crowd size.