Tokyo, Sep 29 (IANS): The recovery of five more bodies Monday brought to 36 the number of those feared dead in the Mount Otake's volcanic eruption, which occurred Sep 27.
Toxic gas around the peak halted rescue works conducted by police, firefighters and members of Japan's self-defence forces, Kyodo News reported.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that another eruption would occur and the volcano could throw big rocks and pyroclastic flows -fluidised mass of rock fragments and gases that move rapidly in response to gravity - from the crater within a four-km range.
The agency raised its volcano eruption alert to three out of a five-level alert system and restricted entry to the mountain and nearby areas, Xinhua reported.