50 dead in Japan rains, floods
Tokyo, July 7: At least 50 people have died and almost dozens remained missing on Saturday due to torrential rainfall and flooding in southern Japan.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued the highest possible alert for the prefectures of Hyogo, Okayama, Gifu Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Saga, Hiroshima and Tottori, reports Efe news.
Dozens of people were missing, mainly in the prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime, where rescue teams widened their search for trapped or injured people.
Around 650 members of the armed forces were deployed for rescue operations, while an additional 21,000 were on standby, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters.
Authorities issued evacuation orders affecting over four million people.
In a press conference, the JMA warned that the earth had softened due to the rainfall, increasing the risk of accidents related to landslides.
The Japanese archipelago has been pounded by heavy rain since Thursday. The JMA has forecast record rainfall till Sunday and warned that in some regions, precipitation could reach up to 8 cm per hour.
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UP: Misled by GPS navigation, car falls into river from partially constructed bridge, 3 dead
Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.
"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.
The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.
There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.
Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.
The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) November 24, 2024
