Rescuers search for missing in Japan amid fresh slide risks

Rescue workers are facing the risk of more mudslides as they search for more than 20 people still missing three days after a torrent of mud and debris ripped through a Japanese resort town and killed at least seven people

TOKYO -- Rescue workers recovered three more bodies Tuesday, bringing the death toll to seven after a torrent of mud and debris ripped through a Japanese resort town, which remained under the threat of further mudslides. More than 20 people were still missing. About 2,000 rescuers were deployed in the ravaged part of Atami, where workers and dogs searched carefully inside homes that were destroyed and filled with mud in Saturday's disaster. A slight rain continued to fall and the risk of further mudslides occasionally disrupted operations. “We will do the utmost to save as many lives as possible,” Atami Mayor Sakae Saito said. Rescue workers found three bodies, two women and one man, underneath the mud Tuesday, bringing the death toll to seven, Atami officials said.