155 CONFIRMED DEAD AS JAPAN SEARCHES FOR MISSING

Japan’s top government spokesman says at least 155 people have been confirmed dead from the recent heavy rains, floods and mudslides that had struck western Japan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said more than 50 people were still unaccounted for as of Tuesday afternoon, most of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area. Searches and cleanup efforts continued in the region where several days of heavy rainfall triggered flooding and landslides in a widespread area. Damages to roads and train lines have caused delivery delays and concerns of supply shortages. Suga said Tuesday that seven others were without vital signs, and more than 50 people were unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area.