Death toll rises as nuclear fears grow

THE estimated death toll from Japan’s disasters has climbed past 10,000 as authorities race to combat the threat of multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns and a humanitarian food and water crisis.

Nuclear plant operators are working frantically to try to keep temperatures down in several reactors crippled by the earthquake and tsunami, with their last-ditch attempts to do this by dumping sea water into the equipment to prevent meltdowns wrecking two plants.

While officials have warned of a second explosion, they said it would not pose a health threat.

Meanwhile, near-freezing temperatures compounded the misery of survivors along hundreds of miles of the northeastern coast battered by the tsunami that smashed inland with breathtaking fury.

Rescuers are this morning continuing to pull bodies from mud-covered jumbles of wrecked houses, shattered tree trunks, twisted cars and tangled power lines.

One rare piece of good news was the rescue of a 60-year-old man swept away by the tsunami, who clung to the roof of his house for two days until a military vessel spotted him waving a red cloth about 16 kilometres offshore.

Up to 10 Irish citizens who had been feared dead have also been found safe by authorities.

Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore said Irish support had been offered to the international disaster relief teams.

However, despite the positive global reaction, fears are continuing to grow of a further humanitarian disaster caused by the nuclear plants crisis, with Germany, Italy and France all asking their citizens to leave Japan immediately.

In Miyagi, one of the worst- hit areas of Japan, the death toll is continuing to rise.

A police chief told disaster relief officials more than 10,000 people were killed. That was an estimate — only 400 people have been confirmed dead in Miyagi, which has a population of 2.3 million. According to officials, more than 1,400 people were confirmed dead — including 200 people whose bodies were found yesterday along the coast — and more than 1,000 were missing in Friday’s disasters. Another 1,700 were injured. The UN has said up to 590,000 people have been evacuated in Japan over the last three days.

Hundreds of thousands of hungry survivors huddled in darkened emergency centres that were cut off from rescuers, aid and electricity. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck and some 1.9 million households were without electricity.

In Rikuzentakata, a port city virtually wiped out by the tsunami, Etsuko Koyama escaped the water rushing through the third floor of her home but lost her grip on her daughter’s hand. “I haven’t given up hope yet,” Koyama told public broadcaster NHK, wiping tears from her eyes.

“I saved myself, but I couldn’t save my daughter.”