Anxiety in Japan grows as rescue workers find more bodies
CNN Wire Staff
Sendai, Japan (CNN) - Rescue workers scoured tangled and displaced piles of debris Tuesday, searching for survivors, as crews struggled to keep control at a damaged nuclear plant on what is now the fifth day of the developing disaster in Japan.
Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami killed thousands, based on official and Japanese media reports, but an exact accounting of the disaster remains hidden beneath widespread damage that rescuers are only beginning to unearth.
The confirmed death toll, growing every few hours, reached 1,897 on Monday. But that didn't account for the thousands of bodies Japan's Kyodo News Agency said had been found in the Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's northeast coast. The number of dead is expected to rise as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.
At least 3,002 people were still missing Monday, the National Police Agency said. Public broadcaster NHK reported that 450,000 people were living in shelters.
At the same time, officials are fighting to contain a nuclear emergency. The earthquake and tsunami led to problems at three of the country's nuclear power plants.
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Filed under: 360° Radar • 360º Follow |
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I know it is politically incorrect to speak about the ownership of properties already, but when the rebuilding begins it will be critical to determine who owns what. Because so many people have been killed or incapacitated, and many property records repositories have been swept away, it may take years to define and verify secure ownership of many properties. Without secure title, one cannot borrow money to repair or rebuild. Officials may think they're too busy to think about this yet, but even in Japan, which is much more community focused than most societies, there are opportunists out there looking for property to grab. Whole families have been wiped out, and what happens when no inheritors can be found?
Ownership of property must be determined before the economy can be rebuilt swiftly, legally, and with an eye to serving the people.