Several People Missing In Southwestern Japan As Heavy Rain Continues

FUKUOKA (Japan), Aug 11 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Several people remain unaccounted for in southwestern Japan on Monday as ongoing heavy rain triggered dangerous landslides, Kyodo News Agency reported, citing local authorities and rescuers.

A man who was evacuating with his family went missing after their car was swept away by a landslide in the town of Kosa, Kumamoto Prefecture. Three others in the vehicle were rescued.

There were other reports of landslides washing away houses and cars in the prefecture. A rescue operation is under way in the town of Misato for a resident trapped in a collapsed house.

In the neighbouring prefecture of Fukuoka, two people were feared washed away in a river in Fukutsu on Sunday evening, according to local authorities.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters on Monday morning his government is "committed to implementing disaster response measures," while urging residents to remain vigilant.

The weather agency has been warning of extreme rainfall in Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures as a rainband stretching across the Japanese archipelago has inundated wide areas of the country.

Tamana in Kumamoto recorded 370 millimetres of rainfall in six hours through early Monday, nearly double the city's average precipitation for all of August, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

JR Kyushu, which serves southwestern Japan, said it is suspending all bullet train services through Monday.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO