bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Dozens of hikers were stranded yesterday on the slopes of an erupting Japanese volcano that reportedly killed one person and seriously injured more than 30.
Ash, rocks and steam continued to spew from Mount Ontake more than nine hours after it sprang to life as around 250 people were trying to scale its peak.
Four people were buried by the ash, with one having been dug out, Kyodo News reported.
"I first thought it was thunder as I heard a bang and another bang, two or three times," a trekker told public broadcaster NHK. "Then volcanic dust fell noisily."
Amateur cameraman Keiji Aoki said: "It was tremendous. I prepared for death when I got caught in the dust under a pine tree."
A suffocating blanket of ash up to 20 centimetres deep covered a large area of the 3,067-metre volcano, trapping climbers and forcing up to 150 into mountaintop shelters at one point.
Around 230 people reached the bottom but a further 40 were trapped at the summit where they were spending the night in shelters.
Aerial footage showed several cabins smothered with the thick dust, some with windows that appeared to have been shattered by the force of the eruption.
NHK said 32 people had been seriously injured, including more than 10 who were unconscious. The broadcaster said one woman was known to have died.

The eruption came on a busy autumn day on a mountain popular with hikers at this time of year. Footage apparently filmed by someone on the volcano as it erupted showed towering columns of thick smoke surging into the air and then cascading down its flanks, enveloping walkers.
"The speed of the smoke was too fast. You can't escape," a climber told NHK. "I'm worried that many more people are still on the mountain."
Another climber said it became impossible to breathe and said rocks were falling "like hailstones".

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the military to send troops to rescue hikers.
"We have confirmed that there have been injuries," Abe said. "I ordered [government officials] to do their best to secure the safety of mountain climbers."
Climbers who fled the eruption spoke of their relief.
"I escaped with my life," a local resident told NHK. "Immediately after I saw the eruption, I rushed away but I was soon covered with ash."

Another said: "No one could escape while the smoke was so intense."
The meteorological agency forecast further eruptions, warning that volcanic debris might settle within 4km of the peak.
The last significant eruption of Mount Ontake, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures in the centre of the country, was in 1979 when it expelled more than 200,000 tonnes of ash.


Volcano erupts in central Japan, injuries reported and 250 left stranded

Climbers scramble for safety down the slopes of Mount Ontake in central Japan as the volcano erupts. The eruption injured at least 40, and some were missing. Photo: AP

Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) soldiers and firefighters conduct rescue operations at mountain lodges, covered with volcanic ash as volcanic smoke rises near the peak of Mt. Ontake, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures. Photo: Reuters

A still from YouTube shows the plume of ash belched by the volcano.

Mountain lodges, covered with volcanic ash are seen near a crater of Mount Ontake. Photo: Reuters

Japan's nuclear safety regulator accused of ignoring risk from volcanoes

Mount Sakurajima on Kyushu erupts. Photo: Reuters

Seamount off Japan could be the largest volcano in the solar system

Volcanic eruption in Japan coats city with ash

Smoke rises after an eruption of Mount Sakurajima in Kagoshima. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

Dozens caught unawares flee for safety; ash fall hampers hunt for missing


Dozens of hikers were stranded yesterday on the slopes of an erupting Japanese volcano that reportedly killed one person and seriously injured more than 30.
