TOKYO — Search and rescue operations were under way in disaster-stricken western Japan on Monday, where record rainfall has caused flooding and landslides, leaving more than 110 people dead and about 80 still unaccounted for.
Eleven people were found dead in submerged residential areas in the Mabicho district in the city of Kurashiki on Monday, bringing the death toll to 112, Kyodo News reported.
Heavy rains started to pound western Japan on Thursday, triggering landslides and flooding that swept away homes, bridges and vehicles and cut off roads.
In the Mabicho district, 4,600 homes were flooded after three dikes burst on a nearby river, forcing thousands of residents to flee the area, Kyodo said.
In the prefecture of Hiroshima, which was hit the hardest by landslides, at least 44 people have died and 40 others are still missing, broadcaster NHK reported.
As of Monday, around 23,000 people were staying at evacuation centres across western Japan, the government said.
A seasonal front which stalled over Japan pulled moisture from the ocean and dumped record rain over wide areas of the country’s west, according to the Meteorological Agency.
TV footage showed submerged homes in residential areas, collapsed houses and overturned cars.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Monday afternoon that the government had increased the number of rescuers to 74,000 for the stricken areas from 54,000 on Sunday.
The disaster forced Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to cancel his scheduled trip to Europe and the Middle East, local media reported. He was supposed to leave Japan on Wednesday for Brussels and sign a free trade deal with the European Union.
The EU said on Monday that the summit had been cancelled “in view of the tragic circumstances.”
European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the meeting would now take place in Tokyo on July 17.
European Council President Donald Tusk had earlier said on Twitter: “My heartfelt condolences and words of European solidarity with the people of Japan and PM @AbeShinzo. EU will help in any way we can.”
Meanwhile, a powerful typhoon was on course to hit south-western Japanese islands, Taiwan and southern China this week.
As of 3 p.m., Typhoon Maria, the season’s eighth, was south of Japan, travelling west-north-west at 30 kilometres per hour with maximum sustained winds of 112 mph and gusts of 157 mph, the agency said.
The agency warned of strong winds and high waves in the prefecture of Okinawa.