Ten people died and at least 20 are missing after heavy rain hit southwestern Japan, particularly in the country’s southernmost main island of Kyushu, police and firefighters said.
Most of those killed in the disaster were elderly people who did not manage to leave their houses themselves. “Unfortunately, we believe the numbers [of dead and missing] will rise as we get more and more information from the field,” a Kumamoto spokesman told AFP.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency said in Kumamoto and neighboring Oita prefectures saw “the heaviest rain that [the region] has ever experienced” as hourly rainfalls of 100 millimeters were recorded there.