Rescue teams Friday continued their search for 16 people still missing from the Mt. Ontake volcano eruption almost a week ago which killed at least 47 others, the authorities in Nagano prefecture said.At the request of the families, it had been decided to not publicly disclose the identities of the missing who were believed to be at the top of the volcano, a disaster management official said.NHK television reported that rescuers have not ruled out the possibility of more victims because of missing persons reports and the number of unclaimed cars in the parking lots at the foot of the mountain, a popular hiking spot.Mount Ontake is the second highest volcano in Japan with a height of 3,067 metres and is located about 100 km from Nagoya city.It erupted Saturday when hundreds of people were hiking in the surrounding foothills and at the summit.
About 250 mountaineers were able to leave the area on their own or were evacuated.However, six days after the eruption there is still uncertainty about the total number of people who were hiking on the volcano at the time of the eruption because many did not bother to register before taking to the trails.Meanwhile, the rescue operation was cancelled again Friday due to bad weather conditions which is expected to worsen over the weekend with the arrival of a typhoon.