TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A landslide on the outskirts of Hiroshima, Japan has claimed at least 36 lives and injured 15 more, according to Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
"The landslides occurred quickly and simultaneously in a number of locations, and emergency crew members did not arrive until around an hour after the first landslide was reported. It was too late," the chief manager of Hiroshima's Disaster Management Agency, Kenzo Kanayama, was quoted as saying by The Guardian on Wednesday, August 20, 2014.
NHK reports that emergency crew members were still conducting search-and-rescue operations, using helicopters and ropes to pull survivors away from the rubble. Search-and-rescue teams are searching for survivors trapped under their homes and debris by entering through the windows of the devastated houses.
The landslides began on the hills and went on to destroy at least five populated areas around the valleys after hours of torrential rains hit the areas since Wednesday morning.
As a result, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cut his summer vacation short and returned to Tokyo, promising to mobilize hundreds of Japan's Self-Defence Forces members to assist with the ongoing search-and-rescue efforts.
RINDU P. HESTYA | THE GUARDIAN
