There are still 16 people missing on a still-smoldering Japanese volcano that erupted last weekend, officials said yesterday, as a typhoon looming off the coast threatened to further delay the stalled recovery operation.
It is the first time an official figure has been put on the number of people missing since the volcano erupted, and comes on top of the 47 people whose bodies have been removed from the peak of Mount Ontake.
“The figure is based on information from people searching for the missing,” a Nagano Prefecture official said, adding that the number might be revised later.
The volcano continues to emit steam and poisonous fumes, making a section near the crater inaccessible, despite the presence of hundreds of well-equipped troops, police and firefighters.
Rescue workers say that up to 50cm of thick, sticky ash covers the slopes, with some of the dead found half-buried, leading to fears others might be similarly entombed.
Heavy rain forced rescuers to abandon their search of the mountain yesterday, while a gathering typhoon looks set to hit Japan over the coming days.
“We have decided to call off the day’s operation as rain continued near the mountain,” a Nagano official working at the crisis-management office said.
“We wanted to speed up rescue operations as we are aware that families and friends are desperately seeking information, but we are concerned about secondary accidents due to the bad weather,” the official said.
“We are now also concerned about a typhoon that is forecast to approach the Japanese archipelago and affect large areas, including our region,” the official added.
Typhoon Phanfone is forecast to hit Japan with strong winds and high waves this weekend or later, the Japanese meteorological agency said.
With gusts of up to 252kph, Phanfone, one of this year’s strongest typhoons so far, is moving northwest in the Pacific toward Japan’s southwest. It is forecast to make landfall on Sunday.
That could force the recovery to be put off for days, intensifying the anguish of the families of those still missing.
Autopsies have revealed that hikers, many of whom had been enjoying lunch at the peak in the autumn sunshine, died largely from injuries caused by stones hurled out in the initial explosive eruption.
Mount Ontake was packed with walkers when it erupted at about lunchtime last Saturday.
Hiking is a hugely popular pastime in Japan, with mountain trails promoted by tourism officials who ask walkers to sign in when they begin their trek and sign out again when they finish.
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