Rescue workers in Japan are racing to find survivors after torrential downpours triggered landslides and flooding in the country's west. Prime Minister Abe has reportedly canceled an overseas trip because of the crisis.
Image: Reuters/Kyodo
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The death toll in western Japan continued to climb on Monday, after days of unrelenting rain caused severe flooding and triggered landslides. The city of Kurashiki and the Hiroshima prefecture are among the affected areas.
The heavy rainfall stemmed from the remnants of a typhoon that hit south-western Japan last week. Since Thursday, landslides and flooded rivers have trapped many people in their houses or on rooftops.
Rescuers in Japan are searching for survivors after heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides in the country's west. More than 100 people are reported dead, and many more are missing.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Widespread flooding
At least 100 people have died or are presumed dead, with dozens still missing, after torrential rains pummeled wide areas of western Japan. "We've never experienced this kind of rain before," an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) told media.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Search for survivors
Rescue workers have spent the past few days digging through mud and debris, searching for signs of life in flood-damaged homes. More than 70,000 emergency workers, including soldiers and police, have been deployed to assist in the mission. "It has been three days... It's possible that survivors will be found, but as the days pass the likelihood becomes slimmer," a soldier at the scene told AFP.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Race against time'
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the situation "extremely serious" and ordered his government to "make an all-out effort" to rescue victims. "It's a race against time," Abe told ministers on Sunday morning. "There are still many people who have been unaccounted for. Some people have been isolated, calling for rescue."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Sato
Stranded
In the hard-hit city of Kurashiki, about 670 kilometers (415 miles) from Tokyo, residents fled to their rooftops to wait for help. Around 700 helicopters were deployed to fly over submerged areas to look for survivors.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Evacuations
At the height of the flooding, Japanese authorities ordered more than 2.3 million people, and advised 2 million others, to evacuate their homes. Despite the warnings, many people opted to stay at home, becoming trapped by flash flooding or sudden landslides.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Stopped in its tracks
Critical infrastructure has also been hit, including railway tracks and power lines. Nearly 13,000 customers had no electricity, utility companies said Monday. Hundreds of thousands of people were also without water.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Crisis at home
Local media reported that Prime Minister Abe was expected to visit areas worst affected by flash flooding in the coming days. Reports said he had called off a foreign trip this week to Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as a result of the disaster.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
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What we know so far:
More than 100 people have died or been presumed dead since Thursday, Japan's government said Monday. Dozens of people were missing.
Around 73,000 police, firemen and soldiers are taking part in the rescue effort.
In Kurashiki, 2,310 people have been rescued by authorities and the search still continues.
Nearly 2 million people have been asked to evacuate the affected areas.
Authorities have warned that landslides could strike even if the rainfall diminishes.
Some 276,000 households currently lack water supply, Kyodo news agency reported.
Roads were closed and train services suspended in parts of western Japan.
Several major manufacturers, including carmakers Daihatsu and Mitsubishi, suspended operations at plants in the affected areas.
Government response: The Japanese government set up an emergency management center at the prime minister's office and has dispatched military, police and firefighters to carry out rescue missions and provide disaster relief.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has canceled a foreign trip that would have taken him to Belgium, France, Egypt and Saudi Arabia from Wednesday, according to a ruling party source quoted by Reuters.
Abe had warned at an emergency government meeting on Sunday that "the situation is extremely serious" and ordered his government to "make an all-out effort" to rescue those affected.
"There are still many people missing and others in need of help, we are working against time," he said.
Record-breaking rain: Japan's Meteorological Agency said that three hours of rainfall in one area of Kochi prefecture had reached 26.3 centimeters (10.4 inches), so far the highest rain accumulation since 1976, when the organization began measuring rainfall.
It is the deadliest rain event in Japan since 2014, when at least 74 people died due to landslides that were triggered by torrential downpours in the Hiroshima region.
Local residents in Hiroshima Prefecture receive emergency water from a supply station in MiharaImage: Reuters/I. Kato