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At least 36 hikers are feared to have been killed according to the latest figures from police Monday, following the massive eruption of Mount Ontake in central Japan shortly before noon on Saturday.
Rescue workers airlifted eight more bodies the day to the foot of the volcano following the huge eruption that caught hikers and climbers completely by surprise and has called into question the nation's volcano eruption detection capabilities.
With airlifting relief and rescue options being severely hampered by plumes of noxious gases, suffocating ash and falling rocks, by the final installment of rescues today, the police confirmed that 12 bodies have been taken to the foot of Mount Ontake, while 24 remain near the summit, bringing the total found to 36.
Local police and emergency rescue services said the latest victims were found near a shrine at the summit of the volcano, the same area where other victims were reportedly found, but it remained unclear as to how they died -- whether it be from the suffocating ash, toxic fumes, or rock slides.
Local TV stations pumped out images of service people carrying a series of yellow body bags one-by-one to a military helicopter that had landed in an open area on the mountaintop, its peak now unrecognizable due to being covered in black ash.
The dead bodies are currently being examined in the gymnasium of a nearby elementary school, having been temporarily gathered on an athletic field. Family members were instructed to wait for more news at a local hall.
Around 550 police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel were called to duty when the 3,067-meter volcano, which is situated over both Nagano and Gifu Prefectures, violently erupted before noon on Saturday, in the middle of a busy hiking season.
According to local media, the agency's advisory panel on volcanic eruption prediction said the eruption was triggered by a "hydrovolcanic explosion," in which high-pressure water vapor spouts after groundwater is heated by magma. The panel said another eruption could occur.
Local media also said that the agency has warned the volcano could throw big rocks from the crater within a roughly 4-kilometer range and that pyroclastic flows could occur.
The weather agency raised its eruption alert for Mount Ontake to three out of a five-level alert system, which restricts entry to the mountain and those around it.
Mount Ontake is a popular destination for people to view autumn foliage and is located about 210 kilometers west of Tokyo, and Saturday's eruption marks the first fatal one in Japan since 1979.
The eruption came at what police say was the worst possible time as hundreds of people were taking advantage of the temperate and clear weather to take a hike when the blast, which initially spewed large white plumes of gas and ash hundreds of meters into the sky, caused day to become night and covered the entire area in an ominous layer of foreboding black ash.
In mere minutes a perfect day out morphed into a tragic nightmare for hundreds of hikers and day-trippers who were helplessly trapped on the slopes, many of them having to endure the conditions overnight.
Of those who sustained serious injuries, Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 40 people had very serious injuries and were hospitalized, and while there's a consensus on the death toll at the moment, the management agency concurred that this figure would likely rise.
Those surviving the eruption said they were peppered with huge rocks before they realized what was happening. They were not far from buildings, like lodges sprinted for cover, local TV shows reported, but even then the victims were unsure if the wooden lodges would be strong enough to withstand the vicious and constant bombardment by such large rocks.
One lady was quoted as saying she couldn't open here eyes because the only thing she could imagine was a bright red pyroclastic flow sweeping away her and her family into a fiery infinity.
