Volcano Erupts in Central Japan, 7 Missing, 40 Injured!

A volcano erupted in Central Japan on Saturday, shockingly catching mountain climbers and injuring around 40 people, who were living in the areas where rescue team have been powerless to reach. Moreover, according to the official reports, around 7 people are still missing.

Sohei Hanamura, a crisis management official in Nagano prefecture told, the injured were present in the mountain cottages when a thunder like sound appears and the Mt. Ontake spewed out huge white plumes elevated into the sky, making people escaped and wrapping nearby areas in ash.

Right after the incident, Japanese media reported that 37 people were injured including 7 who were still in an unconscious state.

On the other hand, police, fire and the military rescue teams were trying to approach the region on foot after the decision of not using the helicopters as the ash and wreckage in the air seems dangerous.

In the sunny autumn morning, before noon, the 10,062 foot peak of the volcano exploded. Japanese TV also showed the video, astonished climbers were moving away swiftly from the volcano’s peak while growing plume appears above and then surrounds them.

Mikio Oguro (journalist), I was present on the mountain for a distinct task, and I saw huge smoke coming out from top of the mountain, jamming sunlight and plummeting visibility to zero.

Oguro told by phone, “Huge ash abruptly spewed out, covering the entire area with ash. We used headlamps to locate the lodge.”

The Japanese Meteorological Agency lifted up the alert level for Mt. Ontake to 3 on a scale of 0-5. The government has warned people to stay away from the mountain as the ash and other wreckage would spread across 2.5 miles. Mt. Ontake is situated on the border of Nagano and Gifu prefectures on the bristle of mountains that runs down Honshu, Japan’s main island.