NAGAOKA, NIIGATA, Japan, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Japanese rescuers Thursday confirmed the death of a 3-year-old girl whose body is still trapped in a car under rubble from Saturday's strong earthquakes.
The search for Mayu Minagawa resumed Wednesday evening and continued overnight. On Wednesday her brother was rescued alive, but her mother was confirmed dead after being airlifted to a hospital.
A doctor from the Self-Defense Forces reached the girl's leg, which showed no sign of life.
The girl is believed to have died almost immediately from pressure on the chest after earth and rock crushed the car during the earthquake in Niigata prefecture, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Thursday.
Rescuers said the girl's body was in the car's rear seat, but they have failed to pull her out of the vehicle because of the huge amount of soil, asphalt and debris inside the vehicle. The work was suspended Thursday evening.
