TOKYO

Japan’s top government spokesman says radiation levels in spinach and milk exceed safety limits following nuclear accidents at a tsunami-stricken nuclear plant.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said checks of milk from Fukushima prefecture, where the plant is located, and of spinach grown in Ibaraki, a neighboring prefecture, surpassed limits set by the government.

It was the government’s first report of food being contaminated by radiation since the March 11 quake and tsunami unleashed the nuclear crisis.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Emergency teams racing to cool dangerously overheated nuclear fuel scrambled Saturday to connect Japan’s crippled reactors to a new power line, as a safety official suggested faulty planning at the complex helped trigger the crisis.

Firefighters also began pumping tons of water directly from the ocean into one of the most troubled areas of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, the cooling pool for used fuel rods at the plant’s Unit 3, which is at risk of burning up and sending a broad release of radioactive material into the environment.

Just outside the bustling disaster response center in the city of Fukushima, 40 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of the […]