BBC News with Kathy Clugston
Engineers in Japan are working to prevent a nuclear catastrophe at a power plant damaged by the huge earthquake that struck on Friday. Large numbers of people have been evacuated from the area near the Fukushima complex, the worst hit
facility
, amid concerns about radiation levels. Chris Hogg reports from Tokyo.
Hundreds of thousands of people here who survived Friday’s earthquake are being checked for exposure to radiation. They’ve been ordered to leave their homes in a wide area around the nuclear plant at Fukushima. Technicians there are struggling to make safe reactors damaged by the quake and the wall of water that’s swept through the complex. For a time, leaks of radiation were detected that
exceed
ed safety limits. Officials say the levels have since declined.
The Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called on his country to unite and rebuild as it struggles to
cope with
the devastation. He said Japan was facing its worst crisis since World War 2. Food, water and fuel are reported to be
running short
in some parts of Japan. Police say more than 10,000 people may have lost their lives in one of the worst affected regions, the northern coastal area of Miyagi. Our correspondent Rachel Harvey is in Miyagi and sent this report.
All day long the sound of helicopters filled the air as they ferried up and down the northeast coast. At ground level progress was slower. We were aiming for the town of Minami Sanriku, one of the areas worst affected by this