Rescuers comb muddy riverbanks after floods kill six in Japan

Rescuers have combed the debris-strewn banks of a river in central Japan searching for victims after homes were swept away in flooding and landslides that killed at least six people.

Heavy rain pounded the Noto Peninsula – an area still reeling from a devastating earthquake in January – over the weekend, transforming the Tsukada River into a muddy torrent that inundated roads and a remote hamlet.

After the skies finally cleared, police and firefighters from across Japan were joined by residents and the father of a 14-year-old girl who is one of seven people still missing or whose status remains unknown.

Public broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media outlets said six people were dead.

Rain pounded the region from Saturday, with more than 540 millimetres (21 inches) recorded in the city of Wajima over 72 hours – the heaviest continuous rain since comparative data became available.

The flooding hit the area as it makes a fragile recovery from a magnitude-7.5 quake on New Year’s Day, which toppled buildings, triggered tsunami waves and sparked a major fire.

The flood waters inundated emergency housing sheltering people who had lost their homes in the January 1 earthquake, which killed at least 374 people.

On Monday afternoon, 3,700 households still had no power, according to the Hokuriku Electric Power Company.

More than 100 areas in the region were isolated, with roads blocked due to landslides.