Japanese hikers caught on the summit of Mount Ontake have returned with video of their harrowing escape from the erupting volcano on Saturday (September 27).
The video, obtained by Japanese photo and video distributor Aflo (which also distributes Reuters photos), shows a plume of smoke rising above the mountain summit on Saturday before the unidentified hikers escape into a mountain lodge.
There, as the hikers huddle together in the dark, made darker by ash covering the windows, stones and rocks can be heard raining down on the lodge's roof.
As the darkness clears, some of the hikers start to make their way down the mountain, along the ash-covered path. Some survivors can be seen covered in ash and can be heard complaining of burns.
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At least 36 people are feared to have died after the Japanese volcano erupted without warning at the weekend, raining ash and stones on hikers, but the search for victims was abandoned on Monday because of fears of toxic gases.
The eruption of the 3,067-metre (10,062-foot) peak, 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, took place as the hiking site was packed with climbers, including children, admiring autumn foliage under a brilliant blue sky.
Hikers said there was no warning of Saturday's eruption just before noon and hundreds were trapped for hours before descent became possible later in the day.
Japan is one of the world's most seismically active nations. In 1991, 43 people died in a pyroclastic flow, a superheated current of gas and rock, at Mount Unzen in the southwest.
Ontake, Japan's second-highest active volcano, last had a minor eruption seven years ago. Its last major eruption, the first on record, was in 1979.
