Work began Wednesday to clear away rubble in the town of Saroma, northeastern Hokkaido, where a tornado the previous day destroyed prefabricated structures at a tunnel construction site and other buildings, killing nine people and injuring 26.

The Meteorological Agency said the tornado that struck shortly past 1 p.m. Tuesday may be the most devastating on record in Japan.

The bodies of the dead were laid out at a civic center in the town and from the early hours of Wednesday relatives came to the center to mourn.