A Russian Emergencies Ministry plane landed on Wednesday in Tokyo, carrying rescuers and nuclear specialists to assist Japan in relief efforts after a massive quake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster.
Onboard the plane are members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's "Leader" rescue group, established to respond to particularly dangerous situations. It also has a group of specialists from the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Japanese authorities have requested Russia to send a team of rescuers for search efforts.
Russia currently has the largest foreign rescue team in Japan, comprising 161 members. It has also sent 17 metric tons of humanitarian cargo for quake victims.
"Over the first 24 hours of relief efforts, rescuers found eight bodies. Unfortunately, no survivors were found," the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.
A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan last Friday, followed by a series of aftershocks. The quake knocked out cooling systems of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, and blasts occurred in units One and Three on Monday, and in unit Two on Tuesday.
Later on Tuesday, the Japanese government reported that a fire broke out in unit Four, and temperatures have been rising in units Five and Six.
MOSCOW, March 16 (RIA Novosti)
