By Belinda Nolan
STATE Labor MP Natalie Hutchins has returned to Keilor after a harrowing trip to Japan.
Ms Hutchins was among a delegation of five MPs who had flown to Japan to take part in a leadership conference.
The group were travelling on a bullet train bound for Tokyo when the earthquake struck on 11 March.
Ms Hutchins and more than 1000 other passengers were stranded in the train for eight hours while engineers inspected the rail line to ensure it was safe for travel.
“It was a scary experience,” Ms Hutchins told Star.
“When the earthquake hit, it rolled the train from side to side.
“I didn’t realise there had been an earthquake, I thought the train had hit something.
“But when it came to a grinding halt we all knew something serious had happened.”
Ms Hutchins and fellow delegates spent a night in the Australian Embassy in Tokyo before flying back to Australia on 13 March.
The 25km trip to the airport took the group more than seven hours due to the chaos.
“It was really eerie,” Ms Hutchins said.
“The streets were gridlocked.
“There were hundreds of buses broken down along the roads.
“People were sitting in their cars but weren’t able to move.
“We had to catch three buses, three trains, walk and catch a cab just to get to the airport, which was probably the same distance as Melbourne to Tullamarine.”
The Keilor MP was off work for several days while she recovered from a twisted knee, which was injured during her journey to the airport.
Ms Hutchins said her heart went out to those who remain in the stricken country.
“I’ve still got friends over there and I really feel for them all,” she said.
“It’s just devastating what’s happened.”
