A dog was rescued at sea off the coast of Kesennuma on Friday after being found drifting atop a roof believed to have been washed away by the killer tsunami triggered by the March 11 earthquake, Japan Coast Guard officials said.

Coast guard members aboard a helicopter involved in the day's search for those still missing after the disaster found the dog on the roof drifting along some 1.8 kilometers off Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, at around 4 p.m., according to the officials.