Japanese police Thursday started intensive search operations for missing people near a damaged nuclear power plant despite radiation fears, DPA reported.
Some 300 officers from the Fukushima prefecture police department in protective suits were searching for disaster victims within the 10-kilometre zone around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
It was the first large-scale search operation in the area since the disaster struck. High levels of radiation had prevented helpers from recovering victims as the plant had continued to leak radioactive substances from its damaged reactor buildings.
Last week, police carried out a full-scale search in the area from 10 to 20 kilometres from the power plant. It was the first search operation inside the 20-kilometre exclusion zone from which residents have been evacuated due to high radiation levels.
Some of the riot police dug up debris and rubble with heavy machinery, the Jiji Press agency reported.
The number of those missing from within the 10-kilometre zone is believed to be around 1,000, the daily Yomiuri reported.