YAMAGUCHI (Kyodo) The bodies of three elderly people were found Wednesday in Yamaguchi Prefecture, bringing the death toll there to eight from mudslides and swollen rivers triggered by heavy downpours the day before, police said.
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| Dirty business: Ground Self-Defense Force members on Wednesday examine an area hit by a mudslide the previous day in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture. KYODO PHOTO |
Rescue workers were still searching for nine people, assisted by police officers, firefighters and personnel from the Self-Defense Forces. Meanwhile in Kofu, Tottori Prefecture, The prefecture later said the man was confirmed dead, bringing the death toll in the two prefectures to nine. The Yamaguchi Prefectural Government set up nine shelters in Hofu, which was hit hardest by the disaster, to provide relief supplies such as blankets. The central government sent in a task force led by Motoo Hayashi, state minister in charge of natural disasters, along with relief workers from the land ministry.
police received an emergency call reporting that a man had fallen into the Hino River.
Hayashi said after visiting Hofu that the government would heed the needs of the people hit by the disaster and "do its utmost in rescue efforts."
At a nursing home that housed around 90 elderly people and was swamped by an avalanche of mud and rocks, around 230 rescue workers were removing tons of debris with heavy machinery and trying to take wheelchairs and beds out of the facility. The mud was 2 meters deep in some places.
Shortly after noon Tuesday, a torrent of rocks, water and mud coursed into the two-story building where more than 70 percent of the residents used wheelchairs.
"Muddy water gushed into the first floor and I was soaked up to my chest," a female employee in her 40s said. "I was trying so hard not to be swept away, holding on to the nearest handrail and pole."
Trees were ripped out and homes were inundated with muck.
