The number of deaths from landslides in western Japan could more than double, a police tally showed yesterday, as fears of a fresh collapse temporarily halted the search for 47 people still missing.
At least 40 people were killed and dozens of homes were destroyed when mountainsides gave way on the outskirts of Hiroshima before dawn on Wednesday, sending tonnes of mud, rocks and debris crashing into suburban communities.
More than 4,000 people have now been ordered to evacuate their homes, as more rain pelted the already soaked hillsides, adding to the misery caused by the record downpours measured this week.
Photo: AFP
Firefighters, police and soldiers were forced to suspend search efforts yesterday afternoon when the shape of the mountains appeared to change, heralding a possible new landslide.
“Operations in [two districts] were halted, as mountains there were becoming misshapen,” a Hiroshima police spokesman said.
Rescuers have been “evacuated as there is a risk of a fresh landslide,” the spokesman added.
Operations resumed later in the day.
“We will continue our search all night long tonight, as we are really fighting against time,” city disaster management official Hideyuki Okuda said.
The suspension order came two days after a rescuer was killed when he was buried by a secondary landfall while he tried to carry a three-year-old boy to safety following one of the worst mudslides in recent years.
Confirmed deaths reached 40 yesterday, but the number of missing swelled from the initial single figures given two days earlier to 47, having been above 50 earlier in the day.
Officials said improved coordination between emergency services and local authorities meant they were now aware of more people who had not been heard of since the disaster.
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