A volcano
in central Japan has erupted, leaving over 250 people stranded and up to 32
people seriously injured. The eruption of the 3,067-meter-high Mount Ontake
took climbers by surprise.
Mount
Ontake took mountain climbers by surprise on Saturday when it erupted and
covered the area in up to 20 centimeters of ash, according to media reports.
Rescue
workers were inhibited by the ash and tried to reach the stranded lodgers on
foot because conditions were too dangerous for helicopters.
Over 200
people managed to reach the foot of the mountain, Reuters news agency reported,
but around 40 were still trapped at the summit and would spend the night in
shelters.
Japanese
public broadcaster NHK reported that 32 people had been seriously injured.
Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the military to rescue the trapped hikers.
Authorities have restricted entry to hiking paths.
Abe orders
rescue attempts
"We
have confirmed that there have been injuries," Abe told reporters. "I
ordered (government officials) to do their best to secure the safety of
mountain climbers."
The Japan
Meterological Agency recorded volcanic plum on the southern slope of the
3,067-meter mountain, stretching more than three kilometers and rising up to
one kilometer high.
The agency
forecast further eruptions and warned that debris could settle within a
four-kilometer radius.
Saturday
hike turns dark
Eyewitnesses
told media there had been a sudden, loud thunder-like explosion and that the
sky turned dark, leaving no visibility on what had been a clear Saturday noon.
Ash, rocks
and steam continued to spew from the volcano nine hours later.
The last
major eruption of Mount Ontake, which lies between the Nagano and Gifu
prefectures in central Japan, occurred in 1979.
sb/ipj (Reuters, AFP, AP)
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