Japan rains disaster toll rises to 199: government
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right), Kurashiki City Mayor Kaori Ito (front left) and Okayama Governor Ryuta Ibaragi (rear) offer flowers in the flood hit area Mabicho in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture on July 11, 2018. The toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan has risen to 179, the government's top spokesman said on July 11. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- At least 10,000 people living in shelters, and the government has pledged to set aside emergency funding to help people return home.
- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to travel Friday to another area hit by deadly flooding and landslides after the rains.
Abe cancelled a four-stop foreign trip due this week as the death toll in the disaster rose.
TOKYO,
The toll in record rains that have devastated parts of Japan rose Thursday to 199, with dozens still missing, a top government spokesman said.
Yoshihide Suga said search operations were continuing after the worst weather-related disaster in Japan in over three decades.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who visited one of the worst-affected regions on Wednesday, plans to travel Friday to another area hit by deadly flooding and landslides after the rains, Suga said.
Abe cancelled a four-stop foreign trip due this week as the death toll in the disaster rose.
Hopes for finding survivors have faded a week after the rains began, even though the downpours have now stopped and flood waters have receded.
At least 10,000 people who evacuated their homes or were rescued are now living in shelters, and the government has pledged to set aside emergency funding to help people return home.
"We will do everything we can so that people will not have to continue living in uncomfortable situations in shelters," Abe said at a morning meeting.
