TOKYO (AFP) — Heavy rain set off powerful floods and mudslides across western Japan on Monday, killing at least four people as rivers overflowed in major cities, officials said.
A ferocious torrent gushed through the western city of Kobe, sweeping bystanders off their feet and into the water.
Under rain, rescue teams descended off a bridge into the water, hunting for survivors, television footage showed.
Four people were killed -- a 29-year-old woman, girls aged 12 and 5 and a 10-year-old boy, a city official said.
Another three people were rescued and rushed to hospital, the official said.
The bodies were found near the mouth of the Togagawa river, which feeds into Osaka Bay, the Coast Guard said.
"Rain suddenly started falling in the afternoon, but now it's calmed down. It's unusual for the Togagawa River to overflow. The last time it did was probably many decades ago," said Hirokazu Shikata, a local official.
Western Japan has seen heavy rain since the weekend, with as much as 120 millimetres (4.75 inches) of rain per hour falling overnight.
In the city of Kanazawa, the Asano river surged through the city in the morning, bringing mud into houses.
The city ordered 20,000 households to evacuate. Officials in Kanazawa said they were still assessing the damage.
A motorist was also buried by a mudslide in the city of Toyama, although he was rescued and suffered only broken bones, officials said.
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