Japan quake death toll tops 4,000

TOKYO. March 16. KAZINFORM The death toll from Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan has risen to 4,164, police told NHK television. Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

photo: QAZINFORM

The number of people unaccounted for as of Wednesday stands at around 12,000.

International rescue teams have been arriving to Japan to join an all-out relief effort, with the Russian team by far the largest.

Engineers are battling to avert nuclear fuel from boiling at quake-stricken Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, and helicopters are being used to dump seawater on the facility to cool the reactors and storage units. Kazinfrom cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru