Tokyo, Oct 2 (IANS/EFE) Rescue teams Thursday resumed the search for victims of the eruption of Mount Ontake volcano in the Nagano region in central Japan, amid uncertainty over the fate of an undetermined number of missing hikers.
The search by police, firemen and military teams was hampered by low visibility and the risk of toxic gases and a new eruption.
Authorities in Nagano have revised the number of dead downwards, from 48 to 47, but said an unknown number of people were still missing.
Mount Ontake, the second highest volcano in Japan (3,067 metres), erupted last Saturday as hundreds of people were visiting the area, popular with hikers.
An estimated 250 hikers managed to escape the mountain by their own means, but many more were believed to be trapped at the summit.
A total of 333 people registered with local authorities to climb the volcano on the day of the eruption, police said.
Also Read
But only between 10 and 20 percent of visitors usually go through that procedure, according to a mountaineers' association in the nearby town of Kiso, which estimates that thousands visit Mount Ontake on a weekend, especially in the fall.
Meanwhile, relatives of the dead and missing are awaiting news at the city hall in Kiso.
The eruption is the worst-ever in Japan since 1926, when 144 people died and 210 were injured in lava discharges, landslides and avalanches on Mount Tokachi in the northern Hokkaido region.
--IANS/EFE
ab/vm