Heavy rainfall in Japan causes mudslide, threatens floods

Torrential rain pounding southwestern Japan triggered a mudslide that swallowed four people and was threatening to cause flooding and more landslides in the region

TOKYO -- Torrential rain pounding southwestern Japan triggered a mudslide early Friday that swallowed four people and was threatening to cause flooding and more landslides in the region. The mudslide in the city of Unzen in Nagasaki prefecture hit two houses with four residents total. A woman in her 50s was pronounced dead, while a man in his 60s was seriously injured, according to Unzen city officials. Rescue workers were searching for the two other residents. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued heavy rain and mudslide warnings in parts of the southern main island of Kyushu. Earlier warnings for Hiroshima in western Japan, where record rainfall fell earlier this week, were downgraded as rains subsided. Television footage on NHK public broadcaster showed rivers swollen with muddy water gushing down, almost overflowing, in Hiroshima.