ATAMI: A terrifying video of Japan’s Atami showed a powerful mudslide tore through dozens of homes after a heavy rainfall on Saturday which affected around 130 buildings.
The incident took place in Japan’s Atami, 100 kilometres from Tokyo, where several buildings were affected following landslides. A hot springs resort town set on a steep slope that leads down to a bay, according to Reuters.
The rows of houses were swallowed by the powerful mudslide after the locals heard a roar on the scene.
“I heard a horrible sound and saw a mudslide flowing downwards as rescue workers were urging people to evacuate. So I ran to higher ground,” the national broadcaster NHK quoted a witness.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said that as many as 80 homes were completely buried as locals watched in horror.
Breaking video: The moment a landslide occurred in Atami, Japan, leaving 20 people missing. pic.twitter.com/Kukq6ndvlh
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) July 3, 2021
Rescuers in Japan searched on Monday for 80 people believed to be missing two days after landslides tore through the seaside city of Atami, destroying houses and burying roads under mud and rock.
The official death toll from the landslides that hit early on Saturday is four, according to Atami city spokesperson Hiroki Onuma, while the number of missing had come down from 113 earlier.
Two people were found alive and unharmed on Monday, the NHK public broadcaster reported.
Atami, with a population of 36,000, is 90 km (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo, set on a steep slope leading down to a bay. It is famous for a hot springs resort.
By Monday, the number of rescuers at the disaster site had risen to 1,500, officials said.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said police, firefighters and members of the military were doing all they could to help with the search.
“We want to rescue as many victims … buried in the rubble as soon as possible,” Suga told reporters.
A 75-year-old man had a lucky escape when the house across from his was swept away. The couple living there are missing, Reuters reported.
