Japan landslide: 20 missing in Atami city

Twenty people are missing in central Japan after a huge landslide hit Atami city following heavy rainfall.

Video on social media showed a torrent of black mud plummeting down from a mountain top and on through the city towards the sea. Several houses were destroyed or buried.

Kyodo news agency reports that the bodies of what appear to be two victims have been found in the port district.

A witness described a “horrible sound” before he fled to higher ground.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has put together a task force to respond to the disaster and the wider emergency caused by heavy rainfall on the Pacific coastline.

Atami, a hot-spring resort in the prefecture of Shizuoka, has had more rainfall in the first three days of July than it usually sees in the whole month. The weather has been similar in neighbouring Kanagawa prefecture.

A witness told national broadcaster NHK: “I heard a horrible sound and saw a mudslide flowing downwards as rescue workers were urging people to evacuate. So I ran to higher ground.”