Seven Bodies Found In Japan Mudslide; Workers Search For Missing

Rescuers dug through yards of rocks and mud Saturday to find workers buried by a landslide at a snowy construction site in northern Japan. Seven bodies have been recovered and seven are missing.

More than 1,400 police, fire and military rescuers have been searching since Friday, when rain and snow sent mud surging down a narrow river valley, engulfing the workers.

Police held out little hope of finding any survivors under mountains of rock and mud, and suspended their search for fear of more mudslides.

Seven bodies had been lifted from the mud by late Saturday, police spokesman Makoto Watanabe said.

The construction workers had been repairing damage to a dam from flooding last year when three successive surges of rock and thick mud crashed down through the steep Gamaharazawa River valley in Otari village, 125 miles northwest of Tokyo.

The torrent was set off by relatively warm rain that melted snow accumulated on the steep slopes on both sides of the river, which flows down a steep course.