Death toll in Japan earthquake rises to 12 after another body found in landslide

Rescue workers recovered another body Friday from a landslide triggered by a powerful earthquake last weekend in northern Japan, bringing the confirmed death toll to 12, police said.

The body was the third pulled from a hillside construction site that collapsed during last Saturday's magnitude 7.2 quake, burying 15 workers, said police spokesman Naoshi Tokunaga in hardest-hit Miyagi prefecture (state).

Twelve of the workers were able to pull themselves out, but three others were killed.

A dozen people have now been confirmed dead from the earthquake, with 10 others still missing and more than 300 injured, according to the National Police Agency.

The quake also buckled roads and destroyed at least one bridge, making access to badly affected areas difficult. Aftershocks and rain also have hampered rescue efforts, with officials warning that more landslides are possible.

The death toll was relatively low because the earthquake hit sparsely populated rural areas of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures.