Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday advised Russians against travelling to Japan over a radiation threat posed by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant that was severely damaged during last week’s devastating earthquake and powerful tsunami.
“Background radiation in Tokyo and the remaining part of the country, except for the area around the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant, remains within permissible levels,” the ministry said on its website.
“At the same time, background radiation around the nuclear power plant is gradually decreasing. But the situation in the country’s northeast hit hardest by the natural disaster, especially in the area close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, remains tense,” the ministry said.
Therefore, the ministry once again “recommends Russian citizens against going to Japan for the purpose of travel or other personal purposes while Russians staying in the country should refrain from visiting the disaster-hit areas due to the difficult situation there,” the ministry said.
The confirmed death toll from last week’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan has risen to 8,133, police told Kyodo news agency on Sunday.
As many as 12,272 people remain missing. About 360,000 people have been evacuated from the disaster area and accommodated at temporary shelters in the country’s 14 prefectures, the agency reported.
MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti)