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Japan floods: Fifty dead and dozens missing after days of heavy rain

AP
AP

Fifty people have died and dozens are missing after days of heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan.

Officials said 49 of those who died were from riverside towns in the Kumamoto distrct, while one person was found dead in another area of Fukuoka as the heavy rain spread across the southern area.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, police and rescue workers have been called up from around the country and are working their way through mud and debris in the hardest-hit riverside towns along the Kuma River, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

Rescue operations have been hampered by the floodwater and continuing harsh weather which have caused more flooding elsewhere in the Kyushu region, including in Fukuoka and Oita, since heavy rain began pounding the country’s south on Friday.

Debris lines the streets in Kumamura (AP)
Debris lines the streets in Kumamura (AP)

In the Omuta district of Fukuoka, residents including a two-month-old baby were rescued on boats by the military.

About three million residents were advised to evacuate across the Kyushu region.

A damaged road in Kumamura (AP)
A damaged road in Kumamura (AP)

An elderly woman who was evacuated told NHK television that she started walking down the road to evacuate, but floodwater rose quickly up to her neck.

"I was almost washed away and had to grab a electrical pole," she said.

Among the victims were 14 of the 65 elderly residents of a nursing home next to the Kuma River, known as the “raging river” because it is joined by another river just upstream and it is prone to flooding.

Firemen prepare to search properties in Kuma (Getty Images)
Firemen prepare to search properties in Kuma (Getty Images)

The river rose abruptly and its embankment gave in, causing floodwater to gush into the Senjuen nursing home.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply saddened” by the deaths and “expressed his deep condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the people and government of Japan,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.