Thirty feared dead in Japanese volcano eruption

A hiker captured this shocking footage of Japan’s Mount Otake as it erupted, which left hundreds of hikers stranded and more than 30 people feared dead.

Japan does not confirm deaths until a formal examination has been carried out, and NHK national news said the 32 people had suffered heart attacks.

The peak erupted without warning on Saturday, sending ash pouring 2 miles down the slope.

More than 500 Japanese military and police set out to search for hikers trapped in the billowing ash, and most have made their way down to safety.

At least 40 people were injured in the eruption and several had broken bones, said officials.

Videos posted online showed huge grey clouds racing towards climbers who then scrambled to safety as ash enveloped them.

Sudden eruption

“All of a sudden ash piled up so quickly that we couldn’t even open the door,” said Shuichi Mukai, who works in a mountain hut just below the peak which quickly became filled with hikers seeking refuge.

“We were really packed in here, maybe 150 people. There were some children crying, but most people were calm.”

An official working for Japan’s Meteorological Agency on volcano eruptions said there had been a rising number of small earthquakes detected at Ontake since 10 September, but that the eruption could not have been predicted easily.

Flights at Tokyo’s Haneda airport suffered delays as planes changed routes to avoid the peak, which lies 125 miles west of Tokyo, but were
mostly back to normal by Sunday.

Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active countries and volcanoes erupt periodically, but there have been no deaths since 1991, when 43 people died in a superheated current of gas and rock at Mount Unzen in south western Japan.