Death toll still rising 19 days after the quake

[Hannah Bell]

The number of dead continues to increase in quake and tsunami-hit eastern Japan. Police say the confirmed death toll rose to 11,232 as of Wednesday morning.

But the police say 16,361 are still missing and that the number of dead and unaccounted for stands at around 28,000.

They warn the number of victims could rise further, with some devastated municipalities in coastal areas unable to assess the number of missing.

Search operations have been suspended in areas within 20 kilometers of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi power plant after the central government ordered an evacuation.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:56 +0900 (JST)
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/30_19.html

[inademv]

1. I never understand headlines like this

At this point in the search and rescue/cleanup, wouldn't it be just as well for them to call all still missing persons dead and revise that if it is confirmed otherwise? At least them the headline would read "Death toll falls X days after disaster".