|
Search on for quake survivors
17/07/2007 07:26 - (SA)
Kyoko Hasegawa
Kashiwazaki - Rescue workers raced against time on Tuesday looking for survivors of a powerful earthquake in central Japan which killed nine people and triggered a national scare over a nuclear radiation leak.
Braving rain, more than 1 000 policemen and firefighters searched overnight into the morning through the heaps of wood from destroyed houses a day after the 6.8 Richter-scale earthquake.
"Full-scale rescue operations are going on today. We don't have any time to lose if there are still potentially victims under the debris," said Masahiko Sato, an official at the disaster headquarters in worst-hit Kashiwazaki on the coast northwest of Tokyo.
The Defence Ministry dispatched some 450 troops and seven battleships early on Tuesday to support rescue operations in the region, which has been rattled by nearly 100 aftershocks.
Authorities said the death toll from the quake had risen to nine - six women and three men, all in their 70s or 80s - while at least 1 060 people were hurt and taken to hospitals.
"The damage is much more severe than expected," Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida told reporters as he visited some of the 12 000 survivors who spent a night at more than 120 shelters.
"I visited a shelter to ask for some food but they said none was left," said Chiyo Nakamura, 71, who has a pacemaker and whose home was in a mess.
"Luckily, I was given a rice ball by a friend of mine, but I'm concerned about what's going to happen tomorrow."
Water with radioactive material leaked into sea
Adding to fears, Tokyo Electric Power Co admitted late on Monday that water containing a "small amount of radioactive material" leaked from its nuclear plant near the epicentre.
"The scariest thing is if there was any serious accident at the nuclear power plant," said Takumi Nakata, 38, a high school teacher who spent the night at a shelter.
"I hope what they're saying is true and that this accident was not problematic," he said.
Tokyo Electric said a small amount of water leaked into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) from a reactor that was not in use due to regular checks.
Black smoke also billowed for hours out of the electricity-supplying part of the nuclear facility, which is reputedly the largest in the world.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari summoned Tokyo Electric president Tsunehisa Katsumata to the ministry early on Tuesday and warned the company over the length of time it took to put out the fire.
"This may cause people to distrust nuclear power," Amari said. "We will not have the plant resume operations without confirming safety."
The company president replied: "I'm afraid there was weakness in our extinguishing measures."
Japan, which has few natural energy resources of its own, relies on nuclear power for nearly 35% of its needs, the second highest figure among Group of Eight industrial nations after France.
- AFP
|
News
