Japanese army to be mobilised as nuclear plant facing meltdown

JAPAN launched a large-scale military rescue operation today while authorities braced for a possible meltdown at a nuclear reactor.

Prime minister Naoto Kan said 50,000 troops would join rescue and recovery efforts following yesterday's 8.9-magnitude quake that unleashed one of the greatest disasters Japan has witnessed - a 23ft tsunami that washed far inland over fields, smashing towns, airports and highways in its way.

The official death toll stood at 413 today, while 784 people were missing and 1128 injured.

In addition, police said between 200 and 300 bodies were found along the coast in Sendai, the biggest city in the area near the quake's epicentre. An untold number of bodies were also believed to be buried in the rubble and debris.

Adding to the worries was the damage at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where two reactors had lost cooling ability.

A meltdown was possible at one of the reactors as a result of overheating, said Ryohei Shiomi, an official with Japan's nuclear safety commission.

Even if there was a meltdown, it would not affect people outside a six-mile radius, he said. Most of the 51,000 residents living within the danger area had been evacuated, he said.

More than 215,000 people were living in 1350 temporary shelters, the national police agency said.

Since the quake, more than one million households have not had water, mostly concentrated in north-east.