“It’s Hell”: 1,500 rescuers search for mud for missing Japan | Japan News

Around 80 people are still missing after torrential rains over the weekend sent mud and stones through the streets of Atami.

Some 1,500 rescuers combed through crumbling houses and buried roads in Japan on Monday in a huge effort to locate some 80 people who are believed to be still missing two days after a series of landslides devastated the seaside town of ‘Atami, not far from Tokyo.

Torrential rains over the weekend – more than a typical July in 24 hours in some areas – triggered a succession of landslides, sending torrents of mud and rocks through the streets of the town in 90 km (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Three people have been confirmed dead.

“My mother is still missing,” a man told NHK public television. “I never imagined something like this could happen here.”

A 75-year-old evacuee said the house across from his was washed away and the couple who lived there were missing.

“It’s hell,” he said.

As of Monday, the number of rescuers at the site had risen to 1,500, officials said, and could increase.

“We want to save as many victims … buried under the rubble as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters, adding that the police, firefighters and military were doing everything possible to facilitate the search.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the number of missing rose to 80 around noon. Earlier, spokesman Hiroki Onuma told Reuters news agency that 113 people were reported missing.

“We are in contact with various groups and are advancing research,” said Onuma.

An aerial view shows the site where the landslide is said to have started in Atami [Kyodo via Reuters]

The number of people missing rose sharply on Monday as officials began working from residential registers rather than phone calls from people unable to reach family and friends, he said.

About 130 buildings were affected on Saturday morning when landslides ravaged Atami, a spa resort on a steep slope that leads to a bay.

Water, mud and debris reportedly flowed along a river for about two kilometers (1.2 miles) to the sea, according to local media.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato called on residents to remain vigilant, noting that the saturated land has been weakened and even light rain could prove dangerous.

Although Onuma said the rain has stopped in Atami for the time being, further forecasts are expected, which increases the possibility of further landslides.

“The situation is unpredictable,” he said.