More bodies pulled from ash on Japan volcano

OTAKI, Japan -- A dozen more bodies were found Wednesday near the ash-covered summit of a Japanese volcano as searches resumed amid concern of toxic gasses and another eruption.

The death toll from Saturday's eruption on Mount Ontake in central Japan rose to 47, Nagano police said in a statement. Nagano police apologized for an earlier miscount of 48 dead.

While ash and gases were spewing from the crater, searchers wearing surgical masks and helmets carried devices to measure the toxicity of the gases to make sure it was safe to be on the slopes filled with volcanic debris.

It was the worst fatal eruption in postwar history, exceeding the 43 killed in the 1991 eruption of Mount Unzen in southern Japan.

Prefectural and police officials said most bodies were found around the summit, where many climbers were resting or having lunch.

The Ground Self-Defense Forces helicopters brought more than a dozen bodies to the foot of the mountain Wednesday.

Relatives and friends of those who are feared missing in the mountain waited for news in a municipal hall in a nearby town of Kiso.

Medical experts who have examined some of the nearly 70 injured told Japanese media many of them had bruises, cuts and bone fractures on the back, an apparent sign they were hit by rocks flying out of the volcano. Some of them were badly coated with ash and had to be carefully washed to reach the skin surface.

The eruption caught hikers by surprise. Seismologists had detected signs of increased seismic activity at Mount Ontake, one of Japan's 110 active volcanoes, but nothing signaled a fatal eruption.