The death toll from Mount Otake's eruption in Japan is expected to reach up to 46 as more and more victims are being discovered in the ash-covered volcano, reports stated on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, rescuers found seven more bodies while scouring the Japanese volcano in addition to the dozens found right after Mt. Otake erupted just before noon on Saturday.

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This is after media reports revealed that about 20 more people are still missing after the eruption that occurred during the busiest hiking season of the year.

"We believe there are more people still missing, but we don't know how many they are," an Otaki village official told the AFP.

Rescuers reported that they have spotted many more bodies along the summit but were unable to retrieve them due to the poisonous gas wafted by the volcano.

According to reports, most of the fatalities recorded after the volcano burst angrily to life were reported to have died of cardiac arrest and other cardio-pulmonary ailments.

Around a thousand members of the rescue team, including military troops, policemen and firefighters were deployed since 'Japan's worst volcanic eruption in decades.'

Search and rescue operations have just resumed on Wednesday following its suspension Sunday due to fears of toxic gas and further eruptions.

The 3,067-metre volcano located 200 kilometers from Tokyo covered the summit with showers of ash and stone during the hiking season.

An NHK report stated that 327 hikers have been registered to be at the summit during the eruption which is only about 10 to 20 percent of the actual number of hikers in the area.

However, the local tourism association revealed that there is "usually only 10 to 20 percent of hikers register their names with authorities before entering the mountains in high season," making the total number of possible victims to about 3,000.

TagsVolcano, eruption, Death Toll