Landslide in Japan leaves at least 19 missing

World

Published: 2021-07-03 11:38

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 06:46


Credit: AFP
Credit: AFP

Saturday, a huge landslide swept away homes and left 19 people missing at a popular resort town in central Japan after days of heavy rain, local officials said.

Television footage showed a torrent of mud obliterating buildings and burying others.

"I heard a horrible sound and saw a mudslide flowing downwards as rescue workers were urging people to evacuate. So I ran to higher ground," a leader of a temple near the disaster told public broadcaster NHK.

"When I returned, houses and cars that were in front of the temple were gone."

A Shizuoka prefecture disaster management official told AFP that "the safety of 19 people is unknown" after the landslide.

The local government has requested military assistance for a rescue mission, he added.

The landslide occurred at around 10:30am and "several houses were swept away," an Atami city official said.

More than 2,800 homes in the region were without power, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).