2 dead, 20 missing after mudslide strikes
TOKYO >> A powerful mudslide carrying a deluge of black water and debris crashed into rows of houses in a town west of Tokyo following heavy rains Saturday, leaving two dead aNd at least 20 people missing, officials said.
Ten people were rescued and as many as 80 homes buried in Atami, where hundreds of firefighters, military troops and three coast guard ships worked from daybreak Saturday to try to reach those believed to be trapped or carried away by the mudslide.
The deluge crashed down a mountainside into rows of houses following heavy rains that began several days ago.
The official said more people, possibly 100, still could be missing under the mudslides but warned that details were not immedi- ately clear. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as is often pol- icy at Japanese bureaucracies, stressed that aggressive rescue operations were underway to find survivors.
Torrential rains have slammed parts of Japan starting earlier last week. Experts said dirt had been loosened, increasing landslide risks in a country filled with valleys and mountains.
The landslides appeared to have struck multiple times, about as fast as a car. Footage showed a powerful, black mudslide slither down a mountain, knocking over and crushing houses and sweeping away cars in its path.
Helpless neighbors watched in horror, some recording on their phones.
NHK TV footage showed a part of a bridge had collapsed.
Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu told reporters that the coast guard had discovered two people who had been washed into the sea by a mudslide. Their hearts had stopped, but their deaths were not yet officially declared, he said. Other details of their identity were not released.
“I offer my deepest condolences to everyone who has suffered,” he said, adding that utmost efforts will be made to rescue lives.
Kawakatsu and other officials said it had been raining hard in the area all morning. Self-defense forces have joined firefighters and police in the rescue operation, and officials from the national government also have arrived, they said.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called an emergency meeting for his Cabinet and instructed the task force to push ahead with rescue operations while guarding against more such disasters.
Evacuation warnings were issued for a wide area, including the so-called “Level 5,” which is the highest possible alert, affecting more than 35,000 people.
Atami is a quaint seaside resort area in Shizuoka prefecture. The area that was hit by the mudslide — Izusan — includes hot springs, residential areas and shopping streets, and a famous shrine.