By DPA,
Tokyo : The confirmed toll in Japan’s earthquake and tsunami disasters crossed 10,000 Friday as the government put the cost of the disasters at up to $300 billion, media reports said.
The number of dead in the March 11 disasters stood at 10,019 at 10 a.m. (0100 GMT), the Kyodo news agency reported citing the National Police Agency.
Police said 17,541 were still registered as missing.
The damage from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan this month could top $300 billion. The cost is expected to range from 16 trillion to 25 trillion yen ($197 billion to $308.5 billion), the Japanese government said.
In Miyagi prefecture, officials have posted information about some 2,000 bodies on the internet in the hopes relatives can help to identify their loved ones.
In Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, officials have begun to bury bodies without cremating them, as is traditional in Japanese culture, because the crematoriums have been overwhelmed.