EU energy chief says Japan reactor "out of control"

EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger holds a news conference after a meeting with nuclear experts from the European Union in Brussels, March 15, 2011, to coordinate EU policy in light of Japan's nuclear crisis.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's energy chief warned on Wednesday of a further catastrophe at Japan's nuclear site in the coming hours but his spokeswoman said he had no specific or privileged information on the situation.

"In the coming hours there could be further catastrophic events, which could pose a threat to the lives of people on the island," Guenther Oettinger told the European Parliament.

"There is as yet no panic, but Tokyo with 35 million people, is the largest metropolis in the world," he said.

When asked, his spokeswoman said his prediction of a catastrophe in the hours ahead was not based on any specific privileged information.

He said the nuclear site was "effectively out of control

"The cooling systems did not work, and as a result we are somewhere between a disaster and a major disaster," he said.

(Reporting by Pete Harrison)