The Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga has called an emergency meeting of the country’s cabinet.
At least 20 people are missing and two believed dead following a powerful mudslide in the Japanese seaside town of Atami that destroyed homes, buildings and cars in its path on Saturday morning. The destruction was captured in videos shared to social media which show the black mudslide sweeping down a mountainside toward the town just 60 miles southwest of the nation’s capital Tokyo. It’s currently the rainy season in Japan and the mudslide has been blamed on heavy rains. Torrential downpours have hit parts of the country in recent days, loosening dirt and increasing the risk of landslides. The mudslide took place in Atami, in the country’s Shizuoka prefecture, at 10.30 am local time (9.30 pm EDT). Up to 80 houses were buried as a result, according to an official with the Fire and Disaster Management Agency cited by ABC News.
