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The bodies of 31 hikers have been found near the top of Japan’s Mount Ontake a day after a sudden volcanic eruption.
The hikers were not breathing and their hearts had stopped. The search for a total of 45 missing climbers has now been called off for the night.

The volcano, about 200km west of Tokyo, erupted without warning on Saturday, spewing ash and rocks.

About 250 people were trapped on the slopes of the popular beauty spot, but most got down safely.

The eruption forced many of those on the mountain to make emergency descents through clouds of volcanic ash and falling rocks.

“The volcanic rocks fell like hailstones,” one man said.

“We couldn’t breathe so we covered our mouths with towels. We couldn’t open our eyes either.”

Another told reporters: “The volcanic ash was hurtling so fast I couldn’t run away. I’m worried about people still on the mountain.”

Almost 50 people were thought to have stayed on the mountain overnight, reports said.

After an intense search throughout Sunday, forty-five people are still listed as unaccounted for – including those found incapacitated and feared dead near the summit.

There was no official confirmation of death, which in Japan that can only be certified after a formal doctor’s examination.

There are fears that the others could be buried under volcanic ash.

At least four people were transported back down the mountain yesterday, according to reports, but their condition was not yet known.

Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active nations but there have been no fatalities from volcanic eruptions since 1991, when 43 people died at Mount Unzen in the south-west.

The BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, in Tokyo, says it’s not clear why there was no warning of Saturday’s eruption.

Japan monitors its volcanoes closely and any that show signs of activity are immediately closed to hikers – but this time that did not happen.

Japanese scientists say there had been an increase in seismic activity around the volcano recently but it was not enough to indicate that an eruption was imminent.

The sudden eruption on Saturday was described as “like thunder” by one woman who runs a lodge near the summit.

Heavy, toxic volcanic ash up to 20cm thick covered much of the mountain, reports said.

“All of a sudden ash piled up so quickly that we couldn’t even open the door,” Shuichi Mukai, who worked in a mountain lodge just below the peak, told Reuters.

“We were really packed in here, maybe 150 people. There were some children crying, but most people were calm. We waited there in hard hats until they told us it was safe to come down.”

Ordinarily Mount Ontake is a popular place to see autumn foliage.

Its peak is 3,067m high and the mountain is a popular hiking route, dotted with lodges, cabins and well-marked trails. – BBC.