Soldiers fighting through a torrent of mud and rocks dug out three bodies at a hot spring yesterday, bringing the death toll from a magnitude 7.2-earthquake that hit the mountains of northern Japan to at least nine, with more than 200 injured.
Rescuers, often forced to resort to shovels and buckets, raced to dig their way through the mire as helicopters kept watch overhead and troops on the ground used backhoes to unblock roads covered by tons of fallen rock, dirt and trees.
Three bodies of seven people believed buried by a landslide at the Komanoyu hot spring were recovered yesterday, bringing the tally of dead to nine, a National Police Agency official said on condition of anonymity. They died when the side of a hill came crashing down onto the two-story inn where they were staying, the official said.
PHOTO: AFP
A dozen or so more people remained missing in the quake zone, a heavily forested mountainous area near the small city of Kurihara.
More than 100 people remained stranded in the region.
A series of aftershocks has hampered the search for survivors and efforts to recover the dead. More than 470 aftershocks have been recorded since the quake hit on Saturday.
A rescue effort near a dam where three workers were killed was called off yesterday because of fears the dam may have been cracked by the quake. The dam could break at any moment, leading to more floods and landslides, the police official said.
Many roads buckled in the quake, at least one bridge collapsed and the risk of more landslides threatened to block access to the routes that remained clear, the Fire and Disaster Agency said in a statement.
“It’s so frustrating. We have hardly made any progress because of the sludge,” said Masahiro Ishibashi, a soldier searching for the seven missing people.
Rescue workers suspended their search for a construction worker missing at another site in Kurihara City because of fears of more landslides and possible floods, the National Police Agency official said.
Tohoku University geologist Motoki Kazama said the area was vulnerable to landslides because the soil is of volcanic origin and contains a large amount of loose ash.
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