57 dead as Japan scrambles to save victims
HIROSHIMA: The death toll from record rains that have devastated parts of Japan rose yesterday to at least 57, officials said, as rescue workers and troops struggled in the mud and water to save lives.
Local media put the toll at 67, with dozens missing and the number of fatalities expected to rise.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday warned of a “race against time” to rescue flood victims as there were many people whose safety had yet to be confirmed.
Torrential downpours caused flash flooding and landslides across central and western Japan, prompting evacuation orders for more than two million people.
The rain completely blanketed some villages, forcing desperate residents to take shelter on rooftops, with floodwater swirling below as they waited for rescue.
More than two million people have been told to evacuate, but the orders were not mandatory and many remained at home, becoming trapped by rapidly rising water or sudden landslides.
The meteorological agency issued its highest level alert for two new regions yesterday, before lifting them after rains began subsiding later in the day.
In Mihara town, south of Hiroshima, a let-up in rain laid bare the devastation. Roads were transformed into muddy flowing rivers, with dirt piled up on either side as floodwater gushed around the wheels of stranded cars.
Dozens of residents entered the village to inspect the damage after spending the night in a tiny shelter on higher ground.
Elsewhere, work crews tried to clear small landslides that coated roads, making them impassable.
In western Okayama prefecture, rescue operations were under way to evacuate several hundred people, including children and the elderly, from a hospital, some by helicopter.
They were trapped when a river burst its banks and flooded the area, and a nurse inside said there was no power or water, and food was running short.
More than 50,000 rescue workers, police and military personnel were mobilised to respond to the disaster, which left entire villages submerged by flooding, with just the top of traffic lights visible above the rising waters.