By Xinhua,
Tokyo : Three more people were found dead in rescue operations Sunday in Japan’s quake-hit Miyagi Prefecture, bringing the death toll to 9.
The three dead were found when some 1,200 rescue workers were searching for 16 people who have been unaccounted for since the 7.2-magnitude quake occurred at 08:43 a.m. Saturday (23:43 GMT Friday).
Rescue workers, consisting of members of the Self-Defense Forces, firefighters and police officers, have been carrying out their rescue operations in the worst-hit Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture and other areas, where some 200 were injured in the quake.
Hills were scarred, roads torn up and a 95-meter bridge knocked down in mountainous areas in Miyagi, Akita and Iwate prefectures, Kyodo News reported.
East Japan Railway Co. said it resumed normal operations of the Akita and Tohoku shinkansen bullet trains early Sunday morning.