At least 10 people were killed and four others are missing after torrential rain triggered landslides in Fukushima and Tochigi prefectures early Thursday, officials said.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops and local rescuers were mobilized to search for the missing and help evacuate residents stranded in rivers of mud.
The deaths of nine people in Fukushima Prefecture and one in Tochigi Prefecture were caused by heavy rain, local police reported. According to Fukushima Prefectural Police, a hill behind Karamatsu-so, a welfare facility for the mentally disabled in the village of Nishigo, collapsed around 5 a.m. Thursday and crushed the two-story concrete building, burying six female residents.