Rescue efforts in Japan following heavy rains, floods
Tokyo, July 8 : Rescue and search operations continued in Japan on Sunday to locate over 40 people who were reported missing after floods and landslides caused by torrential rains hit the country which have also left at least 65 people dead.
Authorities said in addition to the confirmed deaths, four other people remained unconscious, while at least 45 were missing, reports Efe news.
Emergency services have received over a 100 calls reporting cars being swept away or other accidents although it is not clear exactly how many people are missing, government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said.
Several areas have registered record levels of precipitation since torrential rainfall began lashing the country on Thursday, and 20 prefectures are on alert - three of them on the highest possible alert -- Gifu, Ehime, Kochi -- for overflowing rivers and disasters related to landslides and mudslides.
A 54,000-member team, including soldiers, police officers and firefighters were involved in the rescue efforts, for which 41 helicopters have also been deployed, Suga added.
Authorities have ordered the evacuation of over four million people in southwestern Japan.
The rains are the deadliest to hit Japan since August 2014, when 77 people died in Hiroshima.
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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
