Twenty dead as Japan's record rains massive evacuations



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The number of record rainfall victims in Japan jumped to at least 20, with more than 1.9 million people being ordered to evacuate Saturday, while heavy rainfall continued to strike large areas in the west of the country. Huge landslides and sudden floods in Hiroshima, Okayama, Kyoto and other areas, preventing dozens of people from disappearing.

Local authorities said that a total of 20 people had been killed in rain accidents. "The number of victims should increase because we are still collecting information," Yoshinobu Katsuura, a disaster management official from Ehime Prefecture told AFP.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered his ministers to "make a general effort" to save the victims, saying, "The situation is extremely serious."

In Hiroshima, the body of a man in his 6 A man was found near a bridge early Saturday and another man was killed when a landslide hit his house , said a local government official

. Hyogo Prefecture, a construction worker, was swept away by floodwater and died

Television footage showed that a wooden bridge had been washed away in Hiroshima by a muddy and soggy river [19659007] the same area, while several people were evacuated to the rooftops as flooding submerged entire residential areas in the Okayama region.

Some areas have been affected by more than one meter of rainfall, according to the government, Police and firefighters have been deployed for rescue operations, said government secretary-general Yoshihide Suga.

The Meteorological Agency of Japan has updated its warning system at the highest level. Minister Minako Sakurai told reporters that heavy rains are expected to continue until Sunday in the West and East of Japan. 19659013] [ad_2]
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