JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

At least 36 feared dead on Japanese volcano, search called off

At least 36 feared dead on Japanese volcano, search called off

Monday, September 29, 2014, 18:08 GMT+7

At least 36 people are feared to have died after a Japanese volcano erupted without warning at the weekend, raining ash and stones on hikers, but the search for victims was abandoned on Monday because of fears of rising levels of toxic gases.

>> Japan volcano search resumes as survivors tell of horror

Rescuers at the peak of Mount Ontake, now an eerie moonscape under a thick layer of gray ash, on Monday found what may be five new victims of Saturday's eruption at Japan's second-highest active volcano.

The eruption of the 3,067-metre (10,062-feet) peak, 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, took place as the popular hiking site was packed with climbers, including children, admiring autumn foliage under a brilliant blue sky.

Ten people have so far been confirmed dead in Japan's first fatal volcanic eruption since 1991, and 63 have been injured, some with broken bones. Eight are missing, but officials said some of them could possibly be among those who perished.

"It's my son, my second son. We've had absolutely no contact at all," a gray-haired man told Japanese television, adding that his 26-year-old son had gone to the mountain with his girlfriend. "We're utterly exhausted."

More than 500 rescuers had been combing the summit, plowing through knee-deep ash and passing mountain lodges with holes punched in their roofs by rocks shot out of the volcano.

Helicopters lifted laden stretchers one by one from the summit on Monday, before rescue efforts were abandoned. As on Sunday, the smell of sulfur strengthened at the peak, fanning fears of toxic fumes and forcing rescuers off the mountain.

Japan is one of the world's most seismically active nations. In 1991, 43 people died in a pyroclastic flow, a superheated current of gas and rock, at Mount Unzen in the southwest.

Ontake, Japan's second-highest active volcano, last had a minor eruption seven years ago. Its last major eruption, the first on record, was in 1979.

Hikers said there was no warning of Saturday's eruption just before noon and hundreds were trapped for hours before descent became possible later in the day.

"I felt a hot wind blast against my back and crouched down to the ground," a man told NTV. "I was sure I was going to die."

It was natural that Japan's Meteorological Agency, which monitors volcanic activity, might reconsider its surveillance system, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

"However, I believe that, given current levels of knowledge, they made the only judgment they could," he told a news conference.

Suga also said the eruption would have no impact on the restart of the Sendai nuclear plant in southwestern Japan, an area of active volcanic sites. The plant was just cleared to restart in early September.

Experts said it was hard to have predicted the eruption, despite tremors in the area this month, since there were no other changes in the mountain.

Also, the eruption appears to have resulted from a steam-driven explosion of a kind that is especially hard to forecast, said Toshitsugu Fujii, a volcano expert.

"They often occur quite suddenly and there is absolutely no guarantee that the earthquakes earlier this month were connected," he told a news conference on Sunday. "There is no guarantee of total safety when you're dealing with nature."

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Reuters

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Vietnamese youngster travels back in time with clay miniatures

Each work is a scene caught by Dung and kept in his memories through his journeys across Vietnam

Latest news