Soldiers from Japan’s self-defence force search for missing people in an area hit by landslides caused by heavy rains in Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan.
At least 25 people have died and thousands of others remain cut off by the floods and mudslides. Evacuation orders issued a day earlier for a quarter of a million people were lifted in most areas yesterday as the rains subsided, allowing many to return home.
But thousands remained cut off by landslides or fallen trees that blocked roads in mountainous areas.
Local officials said 21 people died in Kumamoto prefecture, which was hardest hit.
Four others died in nearby Oita and Fukuoka on the southern island of Kyushu.
Seven others remain missing. Most victims were in their 70s and 80s. Houses in Kyoto, Japan’s old capital, also were flooded. – (AP)