Bodies on Mount Ontake found crushed between boulders

Rescuers searching the Japanese volcano that erupted without warning on Saturday found dead hikers wedged between huge rocks and people half buried in ash. Ash 40-50 cm deep was discovered at the shrine on the peak, with some of those killed found collapsed and half-buried, the Mainichi newspaper reported. Five bodies were stuck in between jagged boulders up to 3 m across, with emergency workers having to use specialist rock-breaking tools to free them, the paper said. A number of people remain unaccounted for, with fears some could be entombed in the thick, sticky ash that now coats the peak after Saturday’s eruption. Heavy rain forced police, troops and firefighters to abandon their search of Mount Ontake on Thursday, the latest reminder of the hostility of the 3,067 m mountain, which is still billowing steam and toxic gas.

[The rocks] fell so densely that some broke up [after hitting other rocks and objects] and scattered. I think people there must have had no idea where to run and been plunged into panic.

Takayuki Kaneko, a vulcanologist at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute

Rescue workers are having to tread extremely carefully because of worries that the blanket of ash they are walking on could be hiding crevices, or unstable rocks. At least 47 people are now known to have died in Japan’s worst volcanic disaster in nearly 90 years. All 47 dead have been identified, but media reports said up to 20 people still could not be accounted for, leading to fears their bodies may still be on the volcano. Autopsies have revealed that hikers, many of whom had been enjoying lunch in the autumn sunshine at the peak, died largely from injuries caused by stones hurled out in the initial explosive eruption at up to 300 km an hour.

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