Japan volcano death toll hits 47 as new bodies found

[Buster's Uncle]

Japan volcano death toll hits 47 as new bodies found
AFP
By Kyoko Hasegawa  2 hours ago



Rescue workers board a defense force helicopter heading for Mount Ontake during a search operation on October 1, 2014 following a volcanic eruption near Otaki village in Nagano prefecture (AFP Photo/Jiji Press)



The death toll from a sudden volcanic eruption in Japan hit 47 on Wednesday as rescuers discovered 11 new bodies in so-far unexplored areas of the ash-covered peak.

The figure makes the eruption of Mount Ontake, which was packed with hikers when it burst angrily to life on Saturday lunchtime, the worst volcanic disaster in Japan for almost 90 years.

Up until Sunday 36 bodies had been found, but many of these remained on the ruptured mountain as toxic gas and the risk of further eruptions forced emergency workers to suspend operations.

The region's police earlier said 12 new bodies were found on Wednesday but they later corrected the figure to 11. "Police mistook the number as they were confused in the process of transporting the bodies," an official at Nagano prefecture's crisis management office said.

The grim news of more deaths came after media reports earlier suggested as many as 20 people remained unaccounted for, with an area of the volcano still spewing steam and gas.

Some of the around 1,000 troops, police and firefighters combing the volcano succeeded Wednesday in bringing down 14 more of the bodies that were discovered on Sunday.

An official at the crisis management office said helicopters had brought the dead from the mountain, whose pockmarked lunarscape bears witness to the huge volume of ash and rocks flung from the volcano.



White smokes rises from Mount Ontake at Nagano prefecture in central Japan on September 28, 2014, one day after it erupted (AFP Photo/Jiji Press)


- 'People still missing' -

"We believe there are more people still missing, but we don't know how many they are," he added.

Broadcaster NHK said earlier in the day rescuers had seen more bodies that they had not yet been able to access.

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.

But a local tourism association told the Asahi Shimbun that usually only 10 to 20 percent of hikers register before entering the mountains in high season.

The report said 327 hikers had registered their presence on Mount Ontake at the time of the eruption.

Rescuers are hoping that many of those who cannot be contacted simply forgot to let mountain managers know they were safe.

Nagano prefecture has posted a notice on its website calling for information on hikers on the list.



Firefighters carry an injured climber down from Mount Ontake in Nagano prefecture on September 28, 2014, one day after the volcano erupted (AFP Photo/Tokyo Fire Department)


However, there exists the grim possibility that many more perished.

"We don't know if there are people buried deep down under accumulated ash," a senior police official told the Asahi.

The local fire department said 71 people are missing, while the Nagano prefectural police have received hundreds of reports of people whose whereabouts are unknown, a police spokesman told AFP.

Authorities cautioned that some of these reports would likely have nothing to do with the disaster, which happened without warning during a busy weekend.


- Blanket of ash -

Hundreds of people were on the slopes of the volcano as rocks, ash and smoke poured from the fractured crater. Many made it down safely but dozens were trapped on the peak.

Autopsies conducted on the first people whose bodies were retrieved showed they all died from injuries caused by rocks hurled high into the air by the eruption.

Aerial footage showed a sticky blanket of ash smothering the upper slopes. Craters that appeared to be up to a metre (three feet) across revealed where some of the projectiles had landed.

The roof of one of the huts near the caldera, where hikers are believed to have sought shelter, had been punctured by rocks as they plunged back to earth.

Volcanic tremors have been detected constantly since Saturday's eruption, with underground water boiling into steam and breaking or moving rocks, a vulcanologist at the meteorological agency said.

The agency warned Wednesday the eruption was still under way, and noted that smoke had been seen issuing from the volcano as of 9:00 am (0000 GMT).

As darkness fell, a spokesman for Nagano police said the recovery operation looked set to be suspended for the day.

Until Wednesday the single biggest post-World War II death toll from a volcano in Japan was 43, when Mount Unzen erupted in the country's southwest in 1991.

In 1926, 144 people were left dead or missing after the eruption of Mount Tokachi in northern Japan, according to Japan's meteorological agency.


http://news.yahoo.com/seven-additional-bodies-found-japan-volcano-media-023522038.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Luck, instinct determined fates of volcano hikers
Associated Press
By MARI YAMAGUCHI  18 hours ago



Rescuers were forced to suspend plans to recover at least two dozen bodies from near the summit of Mount Ontake in central Japan on Tuesday after increased seismic activity raised concern about the possibility of another eruption. (Sept. 30)



TOKYO (AP) — Huge boulders falling from the sky. Billowing gray smoke that cast total darkness over the mountain. Volcanic ash piling on the ground and fumes filling the air.

Some survivors of the eruption of Mount Ontake made a split-second decision to hide behind big rocks or escaped into lodges that dot the mountain's slopes. Outdoors, other hikers fell, hit by rocks or possibly suffocated by gases, and quickly buried in ash. At least 36 people were killed in Saturday's surprise eruption.

Some bodies have been recovered, and search efforts for the other missing bodies resumed Wednesday morning.

For survivors such as mountain guide Sayuri Ogawa, it was a near-death experience. The experience she recalled on Tuesday and the accounts of others suggest that luck and instinct made the difference between life and death for the hikers who were in harm's way.

Despite its impressive plume, the eruption was not a major one with lava flow. Yet, it proved deadly, because so many people were at the summit on a perfect day to enjoy hiking and the autumn leaves.

The eruption caught hikers by surprise. Seismologists had detected signs of increased seismic activity at Mount Ontake, one of Japan's 110 active volcanos, but nothing signaled a fatal eruption.



In this Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014 photo released by Nagoya City Fire Dept., a Nagoya City firefighter uses a gas analyzer to check toxic volcanic fumes next to a Buddha statue near the summit of the Mount Ontake in central Japan. Increased seismic activity raised concern Tuesday, Sept. 30, about the possibility of another eruption at the Japanese volcano where dozens of people were killed by Saturday's initial eruption, forcing rescuers to suspend plans to try to recover at least two dozen bodies still near the summit. (AP Photo/Nagoya City Fire Dept.)


One moment, the hikers were enjoying the panoramic view at 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level. Some of them were taking off their shoes and resting their feet after the morning climb. Others were cooking ramen noodles on portable stoves. The next moment, they were scrambling for shelter and running for their lives.

Ogawa, 43, was near the summit by herself, rehearsing an upcoming tour she was to escort. She was just starting the "bowl tour" around the crater when she heard an explosion, something like the noise of big fireworks, right above her head.

Some people were taking pictures of the plume rising, but she started running down. She saw big rocks shoot up high into the sky, their shape visible. Already down a bit from the summit, there was no building in sight, so she found a big rock to protect her from falling rocks. In the next moment, she smelled the powerful odor of sulfur.

"I couldn't breathe, and rocks kept falling down like rain," she said. "I thought I was going to die."

What must have been a few minutes seemed like forever. Then she felt a cool breeze in her face and could breathe. She moved to a place with better protection, ducking between two big rock formations where only part of her right leg was exposed. Smoke repeatedly blacked out any sights, and falling rocks smashed against the formation where she was hiding, some of them bruising her leg and hip. In the dark, rocks as big as a minivan, or a refrigerator, flew past her. The ash had accumulated to knee-high by the time she stood and ran to a lodge, to inform authorities of a woman with a leg injury she saw along the way.



In this Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014 photo released by Nagoya City Fire Dept., a Nagoya City Fire Dept. firefighter walks by a mountain lodge covered by ash and damaged by volcanic rocks during rescue operations for missing hikers trapped in the summit area of the Mount Ontake in central Japan. Increased seismic activity raised concern Tuesday, Sept. 30 about the possibility of another eruption at the Japanese volcano where dozens of people were killed by Saturday's initial eruption, forcing rescuers to suspend plans to try to recover at least two dozen bodies still near the summit. (AP Photo/Nagoya City Fire Dept.)


Dozens of people were crammed inside the buildings as the rocks pelted, some penetrating the ceilings and walls and shattering the windows.

Ontake Summit lodge owner Tatsuo Arai, 70, knew the right escape. He was in town for shopping when the eruption occurred but remotely instructed two of his younger staff.

About 40 people took refuge at Arai's lodge for about an hour and a half, all of them staying on the first floor of the two-story building. He told them not to go near the windows because of the flying rocks.

Speaking briefly to save phone batteries, he gave crucial advice that probably saved dozens of lives: Avoid the area known as "Haccho darumi" near one of the craters, because he was worried about gasses. More than a dozen victims were found in the area. "It was my experience and gut feeling," he said.

A sixth sense seemed to help Hidenari Hayashi, a tour guide specializing in the central Japan mountains. His group of about 40 hikers who are mostly senior citizens, started early and by midmorning they had left the summit. But walking around the crater, he noticed an unusually strong smell of sulfur that he hasn't noticed in previous visits. Some of the hikers in his group complained about headaches from the gas. Just as a cable car carrying his group departed the station closest to the summit, an explosion sounded, which Hayashi thought was thunder at first.

"If we were two hours later, we were the first ones to have been hit," Hayashi said. "I'm grateful I'm still alive."

Ogawa was shocked when she returned to her home in the Nagao prefecture and saw footage of the eruption on TV.

"It was intense, it was almost surreal," she said. "I have to remind myself that anything can happen at the mountains."


http://news.yahoo.com/luck-instinct-determined-fates-volcano-hikers-143938778.html