After heavy rains for several days, a huge landslide swept several Atami houses west of Tokyo on Saturday morning. Officials initially reported about 20 people missing.
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In the evening, the Japanese TV channel TBS reported that six people had been rescued and their lives were not in danger.
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PHOTO: AFP / SCANPIX
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“I heard a terrible noise and saw a mudslide flowing down as rescue workers urged people to evacuate. So I ran to a higher place,” a local resident told NHK.
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“When I returned, the houses and cars in front of the temple were gone,” he added.
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A stream of mud rushed down the hill through the city towards the sea, completely destroying ten buildings on its way and damaging more than 300 buildings.
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–PHOTO: AFP / SCANPIX
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Police, firefighters and the army are involved in the rescue operation.
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More than 2,800 households in the region have been left without electricity supply, the energy company TEPCO reported.
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Most of Japan is currently experiencing an annual rainy season that lasts for several weeks and often causes floods and landslides.
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Experts believe that climate change has exacerbated this phenomenon.
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Hundreds of thousands have been ordered to evacuate to safer places in the prefectures of Shizuoka, Kanagawa and Chiba at risk of flooding.
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–PHOTO: JIJI PRESS / SCANPIX
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In 2018, more than 200 people lost their lives in the floods in western Japan, but dozens died last year.
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Atami killed 313 millimeters of rain in 24 hours, more than the average for July, NHK reported.
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