(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
A blanket of ash has spewed from Mount Ontake in Japan, killing dozens of people and forcing a major rescue operation to be suspended.
The volcano is a popular hiking destination, and there were hundreds on the peak when it erupted.
Jessica Minshall reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
More than 30 people are believed to have died after Mount Ontake erupted on the weekend, spewing ash and volcanic rock over crowds admiring the northern autumn colours.
Some managed to make their way off the mountain, 200 kilometres west of Tokyo, after the eruption on Saturday, and others were airlifted off.
Around 40 people sheltered in mountainside cottages, wrapping themselves in blankets and huddling in the base of the buildings through the night.
As this survivor spoke to local media, he hit his hiking boots against a wall to shake the ash out of them.
(Translated)"Hot gusts were blowing, and stones were falling onto the cottage, breaking the roof into pieces. I thought I was a dead man. I almost gave it up."
Police say they have located victims' bodies in cardiopulmonary arrest, but, per custom, they have declined to confirm the deaths pending formal examinations.
Dozens more people have been reported injured.
Sadayuki Kitagawa is the head of the Volcano Department at the Japan Meteorological Agency.
He at first warned of dangers over a rather small area.
(Translated)"We observed the ash cloud spreading towards the south and reaching more than three kilometres from the mountain. There is a possibility that the eruption will continue. Local residents within a radius of four kilometres need to pay attention, in case of falling stones."
However, ash from the volcano was eventually found more than 80 kilometres away.
Sadayuki Kitagawa says the agency placed seismographs at 12 locations on the mountain earlier to monitor volcanic activity but had been unable to predict the eruption.
More than 500 Japanese troops, police and firefighters were involved in the rescue mission.
It had to be suspended after high levels of sulphurous gas were reported.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says all that is possible is being done.
(Translated) "We are still trying to figure out details. I instructed to do all we can to rescue the people affected and secure the safety of the trekkers."
Volcanoes erupt periodically in Japan, but there had been no fatalities since Mount Unzen erupted in 1991, killing 43 people.
Mount Ontake last erupted seven years ago, but its most recent major eruption was in 1979.
Share
