Rescuers fight time, weather in Japan landslide; some 80 missing (updated)
05/07/2021 01:38
(Adds details, stock gains, number of missing down)
By Daniel Leussink and Elaine Lies
TOKYO, July 5 (Reuters) - More than a thousand Japanese
rescuers combed through crumbled houses and buried roads on
Monday two days after landslides tore through a seaside city,
fighting time and poor weather to search for some 80 people
believed missing.
At least three people have been killed in Atami after
torrential rain at the weekend - more than a usual July's worth
in 24 hours some areas - touched off a succession of landslides,
sending torrents of mud and rock ripping through streets.
The landslides are a reminder of the natural disasters -
including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunami - that
haunt Japan, where the capital Tokyo is to host the summer
Olympics beginning this month.
"My mother is still missing," one man told NHK public
television. "I never imagined something like this could happen
here."
One 75-year-old evacuee said the house across from his had
been swept away and the couple that lived there was unaccounted
for.
"This is hell," he said.
By Monday, the number of rescuers at the site had risen to
1,500, officials said, and could increase.
"We want to rescue as many victims ... buried in the rubble
as soon as possible," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told
reporters, adding that police, firefighters and members of the
military were doing all they could to aid the search.
There are 113 people believed missing in Atami, a city of
almost 36,000 people situated 90 km (60 miles) southwest of
Tokyo, spokesperson Hiroki Onuma told Reuters, confirming the
third death. That fatality was a woman, Japanese media said
By noon, though, that number of missing had dropped to
around 80, Kyodo said.
"We're in touch with various groups and pushing forward with
the searches," Onuma said.
Over the weekend some 20 people were said to be unaccounted
for, but the number 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.
Around 130 buildings were affected on Saturday morning when
landslides ripped through Atami, a hot springs resort set on a
steep slope that leads down to a bay.
The water, mud and debris are thought to have flowed along a
river for about 2 km (1.2 miles) to the sea, local media said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato called on residents
to remain vigilant, noting that the saturated earth has been
weakened and even light rain could prove dangerous.
Though Onuma said rain had stopped in Atami for now, more is
forecast, raising the possibility of further landslides.
"The situation is unpredictable," he said.
Stocks in some engineering firms rose on Monday.
Raito Kogyo Co Ltd 1926.T , an expert in slope and
foundation improvement, rose 1.5%, while CE Management
Integrated Laboratory Co Ltd 6171.T , which offers geological
survey and disaster prevention systems, gained 3.7%.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Elaine Lies; Additional
reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by
Kim Coghill and Christopher Cushing)
((daniel.leussink@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@danielleussink;))