A flooded river invaded a retirement home on Saturday, July 4, which fears the death of fourteen people, in western Japan hit by torrential rains that prompted the authorities to recommend the evacuation of 200,000 inhabitants. . Japan is currently in the middle of the rainy season, a period often marked by floods and landslides which lead to evacuation notices, which are not mandatory in Japan by law.
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The victims were found in " cardiopulmonary arrest " in this establishment for the elderly in the village of Kuma in the Kumamoto region, the governor of this prefecture, Ikuo Kabashima, told reporters. Japanese authorities often use this term before the death notice by a doctor. " The self-defense forces have launched rescue operations ," said Kabashima, adding that three people were suffering from hypothermia in the retirement home.
Some 60 to 70 people were there when the raging stream raised the water to the first floor, the public broadcaster NHK said. Local authorities also reported the discovery of another person with cardiopulmonary arrest in landslides in the Kumamoto region. They had previously counted two. Also in the region, one person was seriously injured and nine were missing while a hundred were blocked by roads cut by floods and landslides, NHK reported.
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More than 203,000 residents of Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures have received recommendations to evacuate their homes, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. Television images showed vehicles being washed away, and media reports said that bridges were also swept away. " We have issued evacuation orders after heavy rain, " said Toshiaki Mizukami, an official from Kumamoto Prefecture. " We strongly ask the population to take measures to protect themselves while it continues to rain heavily, " he told AFP. Some regional rail links, including the high-speed train Shinkansen, were suspended and more than 8,000 homes were without electricity.