Japan: several dead in heavy rains on the island of Kyushu

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Torrential rains hit since Saturday in the island of Kyushu, southwestern Japan. Sixteen people are presumed dead, a dozen others missing. Rescue teams and troops of the Self-Defense Forces are still trying to find people trapped in their homes.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Tokyo, Frederick Charles

The Agency of the Japanese Meteorological placed Kyushu under the highest level of alert for floods and landslides. Every hour, almost 100 millimeters of torrential rains fell in parts of Kumamoto and Kagoshima.

Fourteen died in a nursing home

These regions are home to two nuclear power plants. Television channels showed images of broken bridges, cut roads. Floods have submerged a retirement home, drowning fourteen of its residents. NHK television reported that these fourteen people are in a state "  cardio-respiratory arrest  ," a term used in Japan before the official confirmation of death by a physician.

200,000 people evacuated

Japan is the rainy season. Although evacuation notices are not mandatory, nearly 200 000 inhabitants of the prefectures of Kagoshima and Kumamoto received recommendations to evacuate their homes and are in shelters. The concern for the authorities is to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Each person wears a mask and respects a distance of more than two meters between the families.

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• Japan
• Severe weather