Hiroshima Today: Landslides Kill 36; Leave 7 Missing And 15 Injuries

Reports said the Hiroshima landslides kill at least 36 people, injure 15 and leave 7 missing.

Hiroshima was stunned when sudden landslides triggered by lashing rain smash the Japanese City leaving 36 people dead on its wake. Among those who died was the Hiroshima firefighter who got trapped and buried by mud and debris while rescuing hundreds of victims. People were trapped in about 20 locations throughout the city. And about sixty five thousand residents have been evacuated by the Japanese authorities.

Among the victims who were reportedly killed by the natural disaster were a two-year old boy and a 77-year old woman.

On the verge of the calamity, videos have showed the victims being rescued from the rubble while others searched for survivors in crushed homes.

In the five valleys in the suburbs of the western Japanese city, hillsides yielded and were flounced down into residential areas after the hefty rainfalls left the slopes unsteady.

Hiroshima authorities said that there were thirty six confirmed deaths, seven still missing, and 15 injured with being the two in severe conditions. According to local government official Nakatoshi Okamoto, they were several people that were washed away and that they find it hard to know the exact number of those unaccounted for.

Authorities also gave strict warnings and instructions that continuous rain could generate   more landslides and flooding.

Landslides often pose relentless risks in the hilly, crowded Japan, where several homes are built on or near precipitous slopes. Lashing rains seemingly caused slopes to breakdown in newly constructed building areas.

In the past few decades, damage from land and mudslides has amplified caused by the recurrent heavy rains. There have been nearly 1,200 landslides per year and an average of almost 770 in the past decades.

Following a typhoon, multiple mudslides on Izu-Oshima, a southern island of Tokyo, had killed 35 people with four bodies never recovered in October last year.

Rescue operations continue as several hundreds of workers have been sent to the area to help those that were still trapped. Many of the schools were converted into shelters in the city.

With these reports, Hiroshima landslides shocked its residents killing 36 people, with still 7 missing and 15 were reported injured.

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