Friday, April 15, 2011

Death toll continues to climb

The March 11th earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan have left more than 28,000 people dead or missing.

The National Police Agency says that as of Friday afternoon, 13,551 people have been confirmed dead, and 14,563 are listed as missing. The number of dead includes those killed in the April 7th and April 11th aftershocks.

Miyagi Prefecture has suffered the largest number of deaths, at 8,275, followed by 3,913 deaths in Iwate and 1,300 in Fukushima.

About 84 percent, or 11,367, of the recovered bodies have been identified and are being returned to their families.

The police agency says it has yet to confirm the number of missing in Miyagi's Sendai City, due to the heavy damage it suffered in the tsunami.

It is feared that the number of victims will increase further. Police on Thursday launched their first intensive search of areas within 10 kilometers of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. An evacuation order is in place for areas within 20 kilometers of the plant.

The agency says more than 138,000 people, mostly in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima are still living in evacuation centers.
Friday, April 15, 2011 12:53 +0900 (JST)

NHK World

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

ShareThis