Heavy rain pounded parts of Japan's southwestern region Monday, causing mudslides and river overflows and leaving at least five people dead and three others unaccounted for.
The Japan Meteorological Agency temporarily issued its highest rain alert level for the first time this year for neighboring Fukuoka and Oita prefectures, urging residents to take immediate measures to secure their safety.
An elderly woman was confirmed dead after she and her husband were found trapped in a house engulfed in mud due to a landslide in Soeda, Fukuoka, local authorities said. The husband survived.
In the prefecture, three others were also confirmed dead, including one apparently washed away by a flooded river while riding in a car in Kurume, they said.
One of the deceased was a man found after mud inundated at least seven houses in the city. He was among six people rescuers initially could not contact but have since been accounted for.
In Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, a landslide hit two houses, according to local authorities. A woman found by rescuers showed no vital signs and was confirmed dead later, while two men remain unaccounted for.
In Oita, a woman in her 50s was missing after reportedly being swept into a river in Nakatsu, local authorities said.
Due to the heavy rain, bullet train services between Hiroshima and Hakata stations on the Sanyo Shinkansen line, as well as Hakata and Kumamoto stations on the Kyushu Shinkansen line, were temporarily halted, their operators said.
Kurume logged 24-hour precipitation of 402.5 millimeters as of 4 p.m., the highest ever recorded there, according to the weather agency.
An active seasonal rain front is expected to stay over the Japanese archipelago through Tuesday, and an unstable atmosphere will likely affect wide areas in western to northern Japan, it said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with Koichi Tani, his disaster management minister, at the premier's office to be briefed on the extent of damage due to the rain.
Kishida, who is scheduled to visit Lithuania and Belgium this week, told reporters that he will decide early Tuesday whether to make the tour later that same day as planned.
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