Search for missing launched near Fukushima nuclear plant

Japanese police, dressed in protective gear, today began searching for some 2,500 people missing within a 10-20 kilometre radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, which was crippled by the March 11 killer earthquake and tsunami.

A team of about 300 police officers searched for the missing in part of the city of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, while measuring radiation levels.

Japan's Self-Defence Forces and US forces have not conducted search and recovery of bodies in the 10-20 km zone from where residents were instructed to leave as radiation levels were high.

The Fukushima Prefectural police, helped by the Tokyo metropolitan police department, launched the search as the radiation levels have stabilised there, Kyodo news agency quoted the police as saying.

The number of missing people in the search area stands at 2,453, or more than 60% of all the missing people in Fukushima Prefecture.

Japan's National Police Agency put the number of people killed in the disaster at 12,596 in 12 of the country's 47 prefectures and that of missing people at 14,747 in six prefectures as of today.

The disaster hit Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures particularly hard.

The number of people killed stood at 7,680 in Miyagi Prefecture, 3,687 in Iwate Prefecture, and 1,168 in Fukushima Prefecture.

The number of missing people came to 6,320 in Miyagi Prefecture, 4,472 in Iwate Prefecture and 3,951 in Fukushima Prefecture.

The police have so far finished autopsies on 12,520 bodies in the three prefectures. Of them, 10,427 bodies have been identified, the police said.

As per latest statistics, some 160,000 people stayed at about 2,300 shelters in 18 prefectures.

The figure includes evacuees from possible exposure to radiation emanating from the troubled nuclear power plant.