Millions face mounting humanitarian crisis as a tide of bodies covers coastline

A TIDE of bodies washed up along Japan’s coastline, crematoriums were overwhelmed and rescue workers ran out of body bags as the nation faced the grim reality of a mounting humanitarian, economic and nuclear crisis.

Millions of people were facing a fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures in the northeast, devastated by an earthquake and the wave it spawned.

Meanwhile, a third reactor at a nuclear power plant lost its cooling capacity and the fuel rods at another were at least briefly fully exposed, raising fears of a meltdown. The stock market plunged over the likelihood of huge losses by Japanese industries, including big names such as Toyota and Honda.