The death toll rises to 75 as Japan struggles to save flood victims



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SAKA, Japan: The number of victims of the record rains that devastated Japan increased from 75 to 75, according to an official record, while rescuers and troops fought in the mud and water to save Lives.

The balance sheet could still increase with dozens of people missing after the torrential rains that caused floods and landslides.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned against a "race against the clock" victims, some of whom resorted to desperate messages asking for help from emergency services.

Heavy rains caused floods and landslides in central and western Japan, with some villages swallowed up by rising water levels.

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A man and his wife carrying their belongings pass by a devastated street during the floods in Saka, Hiroshima Prefecture. (Martin BUREAU / AFP)

More than two million people have been ordered to evacuate, but orders are not required and many have remained at home, trapped by the rapid rise of water or landslides sudden.

New alerts on Sunday, while raising the level of alert in other areas where the rain was decreasing.

But he also warned residents that even when the showers were over, heavy rain had loosened the land – the risk of landslides remained high. ] ROADS TURNED IN RIVERS

In the town of Mihara, south of the Hiroshima region, a break in the rain laid bare the devastation caused by the showers.

The roads have been transformed "The area has become an ocean," said Nobue Kakumoto, 82, a long-time resident. "I'm worried because I do not know how long it will stay like this."

Dozens of residents descended into the village to inspect the damage after spending the night in a tiny shelter on high ground.

Eiichi Tsuiki evacuated to the upper floor of his house the waters of the city of Saka, also in the prefecture of Hiroshima

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A photo shows car bombs in the mud after the floods in Saka, Hiroshima Prefecture. (Martin BUREAU / AFP)

"I have lived here for 40 years … I have never seen this before," a 69-year-old oyster farmer told AFP.

Later, while he was walking around to inspect his neighborhood, he saw many houses with open doors, suggesting that the residents had been evacuated in panic, he said.

Elsewhere, work crews tried to clean several small landslides that made them practically impassable. Yoshihide Fujitani, a disaster management officer in Hiroshima Prefecture, told AFP: "We are also dealing with evacuees and restoring critical infrastructure like water and sanitation. gas, "he added.

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In western Okayama Prefecture, relief operations were underway to evacuate several hundred people, including children and elderly from a hospital , some by helicopter

its banks and flooded the area, an indoor nurse told local media that there was no electricity or water and that the food was lacking.

"About 1,000 people were looking for rescue on Sunday morning, but we do not yet have a complete picture of the disaster.," Mutsunari Imawaka, a spokesman for the prefecture's disaster management office, said to AFP

"We are working hard to save them as quickly as possible.The time is running out."

The Kyodo News Agency said that about 1850 people had been trapped on the roofs of the buildings and that the Ministry had planned to mobilize 20 trucks to start pumping water from the flooded areas and restore access.

WASHED HOUSES

More than 50,000 rescuers, police and military personnel were mobilized to respond to the disaster, leaving entire villages flooded and left just above the fires visible traffic over rising waters

The number of casualties has steadily increased in recent days, with conditions for rescuers to use boats and helicopters to extract trapped civilians

with reports of electricity, water and mobile phone network failures.

The disaster is the most deadly rain-related in the country since 2014, when at least 74 people were killed in landslides caused by rain showers in the Hiroshima region.

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