Japan: the death toll from the rains in Chiba rises to nine, one missing

TOKYO, 16 AUG - The death toll caused by the record rains that hit Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo in recent days, rises to nine, while one man is still missing. This was announced by the emergency management center of the same prefecture, explaining that on Saturday the body of a man aged around 70 was recovered from an irrigation canal in the city of Isumi, whose death was subsequently confirmed by the authorities.

The nine victims also include a woman in her 70s, found inside a small vehicle submerged up to the roof in the city of Kashiwa, and a man in his 40s, trapped in a flooded car in an underpass in the city of Chiba. The case of the man who is still missing, according to what was reported by the Chiba city fire brigade, concerns a person who offered to go and retrieve rescue equipment after hearing the calls for help from another man who was stuck on the roof of his submerged car. Since then there has been no further news of the man who left to help.

According to data released by local authorities, around 460 people are hosted in 92 evacuation centers set up in the area affected by the floods. Search and rescue operations continue in the most affected areas of the prefecture, where heavy rains have caused widespread flooding, damage to infrastructure and the interruption of traffic in several urban and rural areas.