AlQa'dah 27, 1436, Sep 11, 2015, SPA -- Search-and-rescue operations intensified in eastern Japan Friday after torrential rains caused mudslides and major flooding, leaving three dead and some 26 missing, dpa cited authorities as saying. Twenty-five of those reported missing were in Joso city, 45 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, after some houses were washed away on Thursday by waters from the Kinugawa River which burst its banks, the city said. Television footage showed helicopters pulling stranded people from the roofs of their homes or commercial buildings in the city, with hundreds having awaited rescue overnight. In the prefecture of Miyagi, one woman was found dead after her car was swept away by a swollen river. A man was missing after making a call for help from his submerged car, broadcaster NHK reported. One man was pronounced dead after he fell into a ditch on Thursday in the city of Nikko, Tochigi prefecture, and a woman was found dead in the neighbouring city of Kanuma overnight after mudslides struck her house, local police said. Local authorities in affected areas have issued evacuation advisories to hundreds of thousands of residents. A major river burst its banks in Osaki city, Miyagi prefecture, early Friday, inundating residential areas. Military troops and police officials were rushing to the scene to rescue about 1,200 people left stranded there, daily Asahi reported. The Meteorological Agency warned of further mudslides, flooding and swollen rivers in eastern and north-eastern Japan.
