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Japanese officials have greatly increased their estimates of the number of missing persons. A mudslide tore through a seaside town In the weekend.
According to reports, the disaster occurred in Atami, a famous hot spring resort about 60 miles (90 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, after several days of heavy rains, killing three people.
Officials initially stated that about 20 people were unaccounted for, but after they checked the resident register instead of relying on reports of missing persons, the number rose to 113.
“We keep in touch with various groups and advance searches,” local spokesperson Hiroki Onuma told Reuters. The city government said that so far, 23 people have been rescued.
Onuma said the rain in Atami has stopped, but added that more rain is expected. “The situation is unpredictable,” he said.
On Saturday morning, a number of landslides hit parts of the town, and mudslides washed the streets and destroyed about 130 buildings.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that police, firefighters and Self-Defense Force soldiers are working hard to find survivors. “We hope to rescue as many victims as possible in the rubble as soon as possible,” he said.
Heita Kawakatsu, Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, said that the authorities will investigate whether construction projects in the area have reduced the mountain’s water storage capacity and caused mudslides.
“The county government will study the causal relationship between these two factors,” Kyodo News quoted him as saying.
The heavy rainfall exceeded the usual total monthly rainfall in July in just 24 hours, loosening a large amount of soil, which poured down from steep slopes to the Pacific Ocean.
With many Japan Affected by the annual rainy season, the Bureau of Meteorology said it expects heavy rain on the other side of the country and warns people to be alert for further mudslides, floods and river surges.
“My mother is still missing,” a resident of Atami told the public broadcaster NHK. “I never thought that something like this would happen.”
Ita Naoto, who returned to his hometown to inspect the damage, said that the mud flowed down the steep hillside and turned into a flood when it reached a narrow river below.
“When I see what happened, I just want to cry,” he said.
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