Radiation slows recovery of dead near Japan plant

[n2doc]

By ERIC TALMADGE and SHINO YUASA, Associated Press – 26 mins ago

FUKUSHIMA, Japan – In the shadow of Japan's struggle to stem radioactive leaks from its stricken nuclear complex, police in white moon suits pull bodies of tsunami victims from an evacuated zone in halting work interrupted by radiation alarms.

Authorities are increasingly turning to international help in stabilizing the plant and stemming the tide of radiation, while simultaneously dealing with the other disaster wrought by a March 11 tsunami: the decimation of hundreds of miles (kilometers) of northeastern coastline, the displacement of tens of thousands and the deaths of an estimated 19,000 people.

"We find bodies everywhere — in cars, in rivers, under debris and in streets," a police official from the hard-hit Fukushima prefecture said
Thursday. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Efforts to recover the bodies from the 12-mile (20-kilometer) evacuation zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been slowed by the scale of destruction and a wasteland of debris, but also by fears of radiation. Police in that prefecture dressed in full radiation suits grabbed 19 corpses from the rubble on Wednesday, the police official said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110331/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake