Torrential rains in Japan unleash landslides, 20 missing
Japan's military sent emergency rescuers to the central city of Atami on Saturday after landslides triggered by heavy rains left at least 20 people missing, public broadcaster NHK said.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has called together an emergency task force to tackle the crisis, NHK added, as it broadcast Twitter footage of floods that destroyed homes swept away debris.
Social media images showed partially submerged cars and rescue workers wading through waist-high water with a small life raft.
The rainfall deluging the city since Friday has already exceeded average July levels for the prefectures of Shizuoka, where Atami is located, and neighbouring Kanagawa, NHK said.
Bridge in central Japan begins V-shaped collapse into rain-swollen riverhttps://t.co/vzhzuZ9Z7l
— The Mainichi (Japan Daily News) (@themainichi) July 3, 2021
黄瀬川大橋、崩壊。
— 炎上動画・面白ネタ拡散バード🇯🇵 (@enjou_kakusan) July 3, 2021
熱海で大規模土砂崩れ。
車も家も流される事態に。#豪雨 #拡散希望pic.twitter.com/HX5mKb34zj