A 61-year-old man died when his home on the Sea of Japan coast collapsed in a mudslide as heavy rain hit many parts of the nation Thursday.
According to police, Masatoshi Adachi's home in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, was knocked down by mud sliding off the mountain behind his residence as 104.5 mm of rain fell in a 24-hour period, a record for the area in August. Responding to a neighbor's call for assistance, police pulled Adachi from the mud but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
About 50 other residents took shelter in nearby facilities to escape mudslides, according to the city.