Japanese soldiers begin search for bodies

TOKYO - Around 22,000 soldiers started an intensive search on Sunday for bodies along Japan's northern Pacific coast as the country prepared to mark a month since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Ninety aircraft, 50 vessels and 100 divers were looking for corpses swept out to sea, while 14,000 ground troops combed through the remains of houses, mangled vehicles and piles of rubble on land. The US military has also sent 110 personnel and two aircraft to join the one-day search.

The maritime search was focusing on waters off hard-hit Rikuzentakata, a tiny city in Iwate prefecture that was largely destroyed by the tsunami.