Rains take major toll

TROOPS were working yesterday to rescue families left stranded by flooding in southern Japan.

At least two people were reported dead and more than a dozen others were missing or unaccounted for in flooding that wrecked homes, roads and rice terraces.

Hideki Tanaka, a Fukuoka prefectural disaster management official, said there were two unconfirmed reports of deaths. He said six others were missing and feared dead after they were swept by floodwater or buried in mudslides.