Japan landslide: Elderly couple among survivors pulled from buried homes
Rescue teams battling heavy rain pulled survivors from their ruined homes on Sunday after a landslide struck the Japanese coastal city of Atami.
Authorities said an elderly couple were among 23 people rescued so far.
At least three people have been killed and dozens are still missing after a torrent of mud swept the city, south-west of Tokyo, on Saturday.
Japanese media showed footage of rescue workers searching for life in the remains of crushed buildings.
Some 80 people are still unaccounted for, according to the city mayor.
On Monday, there were about 1,500 rescue workers searching at the site, including police, firefighters and members of the military.
“We want to rescue as many victims … buried in the rubble as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
The Asahi news website said Yoshie Yuhara and her husband Eiji, both 75, were among those rescued on Sunday after 26 hours. They said that when the landslide hit they heard “a roaring, like heavy machinery” and fled to the top of their three-storey home just before the lower floors were inundated.
Naoto Date, a 55-year-old actor, returned to his hometown on Saturday to see the damage for himself.
“I just wanted to cry (when I saw what had happened),” he said. “Many elderly people were living there. The thought that there might be people who failed to escape from the disaster makes me really sad.”