 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Zhang Wen Thick snow covered the wreckage littering quake-hit Japan Thursday, further hindering rescue efforts to find anyone alive in the debris. Heavy blizzards hit Japan's northeast region overnight, covering tsunami-razed areas in deep snow and vital highways in treacherous black ice. "The strong smell of bodies and the dirty seawater make searching extremely difficult," Yin Guanghui, a member of a Chinese rescue team working in the battered town of Ofunato, told AFP. A 15-member Chinese rescue team joined local and international rescuers Sunday. They continued searching Thursday, going through to some of the ruined areas in Ofunato in northeastern Iwate Prefecture and conducting door-to-door searches. More than 10 countries and regions have sent personnel to assist in the rescue work. Visibility, however, has dropped considerably, and some rescue teams were pulling back Thursday, fearing they would be unable to get back to their bases because of the snow and ice. The United Nations said the snow, rain and "extraordinarily cold weather" had worsened the nation's emergency and were complicating relief efforts that were already hampered by frequent aftershocks. Also fearing the uncertain situation caused by the Fukushima nuclear power station accident, France Thursday moved a 100-firefighter rescue team farther away from the dangerous nuclear plant, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Citing French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, the report said the rescuers were ordered to remain 300 kilometers from the nuclear center, because the level of radioactivity 80 kilometers from the plant was "alarming." Volunteers from the International Rescue Corps were also forced to return to the UK after the British government told Britons to get out of Tokyo amid fears of a nuclear catastrophe. The China Seismological Bureau has sent 20 sets of protective clothing to the China International Search and Rescue Team, according to team's microblog. "The emergency relief period is generally seven to 10 days, although there is a so-called 72-hour rescue gold time," explained Qu Guosheng, chief engineer of the National Earthquake Response Support Service, adding that the main task for rescuers now was to search around the collapsed buildings. The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said search and rescue teams were reporting "increasingly difficult conditions" due to the weather and a lack of vehicles and fuel supplies. "Rescue teams have described it as the biggest job they have ever experienced," OCHA told AFP. Agencies contributed to this story |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
