Three found dead at Japan hot spring resort

TOKYO (Reuters) - Three people were found dead under the rubble of an inn on Sunday in a hot spring resort swamped by a massive landslide after a powerful earthquake that rocked rural northern Japan, a local government official said.

They were among seven people believed trapped in the two-storey inn, whose first floor had completely collapsed when the quake hit on Saturday.

These three deaths took the toll from the 7.2 magnitude quake to nine, the official said.

(Reporting by Teruaki Ueno; Editing by Jerry Norton)