Rescue efforts continue after mudslide in central Japan

Firefighters, police and Self-Defense Forces personnel continued to search mud-swamped houses in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, and remove debris after rescuing 23 people by Sunday. One person was reported injured and over 550 people took shelter in local hotels, according to the city.

The city government has confirmed the safety of 34 of the 147 people whose whereabouts had been unknown based on the basic resident register.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo that rescuers will continue looking for those believed to be buried in the mud.

According to the prefectural government, some 100,000 cubic meters of soil collapsed into a nearby river around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and traveled a distance of about 2 kilometers.

The local government decided to close 11 elementary and junior high schools, and four kindergartens on Monday as warnings against heavy rain and mudslide remained in place.

On social media platform Twitter, people posted the names, ages, descriptions and photos of missing relatives.

Among those searching for their relatives is 71-year-old Koichi Tanaka, whose 70-year-old wife, Michiko went missing after Tanaka left his wife at home to check on her friend.

«I cannot believe that the city's face changed drastically within an hour,» said Tanaka.

A local arm of the Japan National Council of Social Welfare will start the enrollment of volunteers from Monday afternoon. The organization will set up a volunteer center once fears of a secondary disaster recede.

The organization is planning to only take on volunteers from within the prefecture in order to prevent coronavirus infections, it said.