Five South Koreans living in a coastal town in Japan have been rescued following the earthquake and tsunami in the northeastern part of the country. Contact with the five had not been established since the disaster.

An official from a South Korean government response team in Japan confirmed Wednesday that the five people had been rescued. They include a 52-year-old woman identified by her surname Kim and her relatives, all of whom were stranded in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture.

When the earthquake hit last Friday, Kim and her family fled to a Japanese neighbor's house and had been staying there with eight other Japanese people.

But contact with Kim and the others couldn't be established for six days, as the whole town was destroyed, as were the roads.

The five are the first to have their whereabouts confirmed among the 21 South Korean households that were not able to be reached since the disaster.