10,000 Feared Dead- Nuclear Crisis Grows

Nuclear crisis grows as death toll mounts ABC.au

A new explosion hit a nuclear plant in Japan as the country races to avert a catastrophic meltdown in the wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.

Many survivors are spending another night without water, electricity, fuel or enough food, as authorities appeared overwhelmed by the monumental scale of the disaster.

But it was the fear of a nuclear disaster looming on top of the magnitude-8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that gripped the nation as it struggled with a crisis described by prime minister Naoto Kan as the worst since World War II.