At least two people were reported dead with multiple unaccounted for after heavy rain pounded parts of northeastern Japan, triggering river flooding and landslides, local authorities said Friday.
Yoshio Sato, 86, is believed to have been carried away by the flooded Omono River in Akita Prefecture and was found dead, while another man was reported missing at a construction site in Yuzawa in the same prefecture.
Two police officers in their 20s in the neighboring Yamagata Prefecture were unaccounted for after being swept away in a police car, but one has since been found and confirmed dead.
The Yamagata prefectural police said it received an emergency call at around 11:45 p.m. on Thursday from one of the missing officers in the city of Shinjo, who had gone out to respond to a request for help, saying that the car they were in was being carried away by the water. The vehicle was later found half submerged.
"It is a matter of deepest regret. We will use all of our strength in our search and rescue mission," the Yamagata prefectural police chief Kunio Suzuki told reporters.
The pair had apparently not been carrying life jackets, and a separate vehicle that followed to deliver them was caught in a landslide, he said.
The Yamagata prefectural police said the people who had requested help were rescued.
In Tozawa, Yamagata, about a dozen people were rescued by the country's Self-Defense Forces and prefectural authorities after the village became submerged and cut off, according to local authorities.
The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its heavy rain warnings across six municipalities in Yamagata but continued to warn of flooding and landslides.
"We have dispatched the SDF for disaster relief operations. We will continue to gather information and apply every possible measure," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a meeting of government officials.
The National Police Agency set up an emergency response office in the early hours of Friday.
The Yamagata Shinkansen bullet train services between Yamagata and Shinjo stations have been suspended due to heavy rain, with operations slated to be halted through Saturday.
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Heavy rain lashes northeastern Japan, triggering floods, landslides
