One dead, 22 missing after flooding hits Japan
Tokyo (dpa) - Search-and-rescue operations intensified in eastern Japan Friday after torrential rains caused mudslides and major flooding, leaving one dead and 22 missing, authorities said.
Twenty-two people were missing and some houses were washed away after the Kinugawa River breached its banks in Joso, 45 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, Thursday, flooding residential areas and farming fields, the city said.
Television footage showed helicopters pulling stranded people from the roofs of their homes or commercial buildings in the city after hundreds were awaiting rescue overnight.
One woman was found dead in Kanuma city, 100 kilometres north ofTokyo, after mudslides struck her house, local police said.
Torrential rains and flooding also hit north-eastern Japan with local authorities issuing evacuation advisories to hundreds of thousands of residents.
A major river burst its banks in Osaki city, Miyagi prefecture,inundating residential areas, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The Meteorological Agency was warning of further mudslides, flooding and swollen rivers in eastern and north-eastern Japan.
