AKIPRESS.COM - Sixteen people remain unaccounted for on a still-smouldering Japanese volcano that erupted at the weekend, officials said on Friday, as a typhoon looming off the coast threatened to further delay the stalled recovery operation, reports AFP.

It is the first time an official figure has been put on the number of people missing since the volcano roared to life, and comes on top of the 47 people whose bodies have been removed from the peak of Mount Ontake.

"The figure is based on information from people searching for the missing," a Nagano prefectural official said, adding that the number may be revised later.

The volcano continues to belch steam and poisonous fumes, making a section near the crater inaccessible, despite the presence of hundreds of well-equipped troops, police and firefighters.