Japan: Huge troop search for quake and tsunami bodies

The retreating tsunami water took many bodies out to sea and left many buried under mud and rubble.

Japan has deployed nearly 25,000 troops to search for the bodies of those missing since the earthquake and tsunami that devastated north-eastern areas more than six weeks ago.

The search is the third such large-scale effort since the disaster.
Twelve thousand people are unaccounted for and it is feared many were swept out to sea and will never be recovered.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Naoto Kan is under pressure after his party suffered defeats in local elections.
Members of Mr Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DJP) won only three out of 10 elections held over the weekend. The polls were mostly for local government posts.
The DJP losses come two weeks after the party was battered in contests for governorships and elections to prefectural assemblies.
But Mr Kan brushed off criticism of his handling of the natural and nuclear crises triggered by the 11 March quake, saying his determination to tackle them remained steadfast.

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