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Japanese PM cancels trip to quake-hit area

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-21 16:41

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan early Monday called off a scheduled trip to an area about 20 km away from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant due to bad weather, government officials said.

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The premier planned to meet and talk with those affected by the twin disasters of the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Ishinomak of Miyagi prefecture after arriving there by helicopter, according to the officials.

Weather conditions will not be fit for a helicopter flight as the Japan Meteorological Agency has forecast rain for the day in the area, they said.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 220 km northeast of Tokyo, was stricken by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

Radioactive leaks were detected after a series of explosions and fires at four of its six reactors following failure of their cooling function due to the damaged power supplies.

The authorities advised residents living within 20-30 km radius of the plant to stay indoors and set the area 20 km around of the plant as an exclusion zone where residents have been evacuated.

According to data released Sunday by the National Police Agency, up to 8,133 people have been killed following the disasters.