Seventy people on Tuesday filed a damages suit against current and former landowners allegedly involved in land alterations and the creation of a massive soil mound where a mudslide in July killed 26 people in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture.

In the lawsuit filed with the Numazu branch of the Shizuoka District Court, the plaintiffs — including bereaved family members of the victims and local business operators — are seeking ¥3.2 billion in damages from people and companies involved in managing the land.

"We will take action to ensure that this man-made disaster is never repeated," said Yuji Seshimo, 53, who lost his mother in the mudslide.