Japan quake death toll tops 4,000

TOKYO. March 16. KAZINFORM The death toll from Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan has risen to 4,164, police told NHK television. Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The number of people unaccounted for as of Wednesday stands at around 12,000.

International rescue teams have been arriving to Japan to join an all-out relief effort, with the Russian team by far the largest.

Engineers are battling to avert nuclear fuel from boiling at quake-stricken Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, and helicopters are being used to dump seawater on the facility to cool the reactors and storage units. Kazinfrom cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru