9,523 dead in Japan quake, 16,067 missing

Tokyo, March 24 (IANS) The toll in the Japan earthquake and ensuing tsunami has risen to 9,523 while 16,067 people are still unaccounted for, Xinhua quoted the National Police Agency as saying.

The toll is expected to climb significantly higher.
On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told two prefectures near a troubled nuclear power plant to stop selling their vegetables and raw milk after authorities detected radioactive materials in the produce, DPA reported.

Authorities said they had found high levels of radiation in 11 types of produce, including cabbage and broccoli, grown in Fukushima prefecture, where a nuclear power station was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.

Health ministry officials have detected radioactive caesium at levels of 82,000 becquerels, 164 times the legal limit, in kukitachina, a leafy vegetable, from the city of Motomiya, 60 km west of the nuclear power plant.