Floods death toll up to five

TOKYO: The number of people who died in floods which devastated Japan this week reached five yesterday as rescuers continued their search for more than a dozen still missing.

Police found the body of a man, 68, in Tochigi, north of Tokyo, in the early morning, the fifth located in the rescue operation. The body was reportedly found inside a submerged car at a water-covered rice field in the town.

Police also discovered another body of a man in the afternoon in a rice field of most severely-hit Joso, a community of 65,000 residents.

Parts of the town were washed away on Thursday when a levee on the Kinugawa river gave way, flooding an area that spans 32 sq km, after the worst rains in decades.

Four days have passed since the flooding but search operations continued yesterday with a total of 1,800 rescuers including police, firemen, and the Self-Defence Forces scrabbling to find 15 people still missing from the town, public broadcaster NHK said.

The clock is ticking as the area expects heavy rain in the evening, which could further spread the water damage.

Officials said more than 2,100 people were still at evacuation facilities in Joso yesterday morning as more than 4,000 houses were submerged and water supply was cut off.

The number of missing in Joso dropped from 22 to 15 on Saturday after police found more victims alive, including two children.