VOA News
The U.S. State Department says the first flight carrying American evacuees from Japan lifted off Thursday, as foreign governments began pulling their citizens out of the disaster-struck country.
Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy says the Taiwan-bound flight is carrying nearly 100 people, mostly family-members of U.S. officials. Another flight is due to leave Friday. The State Department has not ordered an evacuation, but is making flights available for those who wish to leave.
Britain, China and France are among the other foreign governments arranging transportation out of Japan for their citizens.
Meantime, fuel shortages, power outages and freezing weather have slowed relief efforts in Japan and dimmed hopes for finding any more survivors in the wreckage of last week's earthquake and tsunami.
Search and rescue teams are gradually making their way to communities that have been cut off since the quake due to heavy damage to roads and infrastructure.
But nearly a week after the disaster, it is unlikely they will find any survivors in the wreckage, and the death tolls continue to rise. By midday Thursday, the national police had put the toll at more than 5,300 dead and 9,300 missing.
Conditions are also deteriorating in shelters across the country's northeast, where more than 300,000 people are taking refuge. Agriculture ministry officials said they are unable to get ample supplies to the shelters.
Japan's Red Cross says hospitals and evacuation centers also are running out of medical supplies.
A doctor at a hospital 45 kilometers from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant told Japan's Mainichi newspaper that officials there only have five days' worth of food and three days' worth of drugs for 300 patients. He said many of the staff are unable to come to work because of gasoline shortages or because they have fled due to radiation fears.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area near the crippled nuclear facility, but those in shelters nearby say they have not received supplies because relief workers refuse to come to the region. Local media report 14 mostly elderly people have died in the shelters for lack of proper medical care.
U.S. naval forces operating off Japan's east coast said snow and poor visibility limited helicopter operations to deliver food and water to relief sites. Members of the military have also been ordered to stay away from areas within 80 kilometers of the damaged Fukushima plant, due to high radiation levels.
Many parts of Japan are experiencing rolling blackouts as the emergency tests the country's power capacity. The government also has asked railway operators to reduce train service to lessen the strain on the electrical system.
Tokyo's Electric Power Company said it was able to avert a much larger-scale blackout in the capital. Still, many parts of the city were dark Thursday night and many businesses remained closed to conserve power.
Stumble It!
