Mount Ontake Erupts While At Least 200 Hikers Approach The Summit
ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World with me Becky Anderson live from Abu Dhabi. It is 25 past 7:00 here. So far at least 30 people have been found lifeless by rescue workers searching for people caught up in what is a volcanic eruption in Japan. It is not yet known whether -- how many hikers were engulfed in the ash when this mountain suddenly started erupting on Saturday, but it's thought there were up to 250 people in the area. Will Ripley has the latest.</s>WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One by one they are carried off the mountain, more than 30 people with no pulse in a state of cardiac arrest, all of them near the summit when Mount Ontake erupted. Home video shows a giant plume of gas and ash surrounding and blinding these hikers in seconds. Security cameras captured Mount Ontake rumbling to life Saturday, its first major eruption in 35 years. More than 200 climbers came to Japan's second highest volcano for the peak of autumn viewing. "So many people were near the summit," says this hiker. "Everyone started running, but some were hurt and couldn't move." The volcano's rising plume is disrupting air travel. Volcanic ash is raining down on hundreds of rescuers below. They face danger from nearly continuous seismic activity and the looming threat of another big eruption possible in the coming days. "Please help us," says Jokazu Tokaru (ph). His son and his girlfriend reached the summit just minutes before noon Saturday, just when Ontake blew its top. Both are still missing. Now Tokaru (ph) sits on the floor of this evacuation center waiting. "All I can do is beg for your help to get us information," he says. "Please." As each hour passes, desperation grows. Families are waiting for word on their loved ones who were dangerously close to a sleeping volcano that suddenly woke up. Will Ripley, CNN, Mount Ontake, Japan.</s>ANDERSON: The latest world news headlines on CNN just ahead, including it is literally like nowhere else in China. And right now that is exactly the problem. We're going to get the very latest from Hong Kong on what has been a night of unprecedented demonstrations.