17 Unaccounted For In Typhoon-hit Northern Japan

TOKYO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -1st Sep,2016) - 17 people were unaccounted for in Japan Thursday after Typhoon Lionrock tore through the north of the country, leaving 11 people dead and some 1,600 cut off in isolated communities, officials said. Ten died in the town of Iwaizumi after it was hit by surging river water and mud, with nine of them perishing in a care home for the elderly.

The typhoon, which packed wind gusts of over 160 kilometres (100 miles) an hour landed on Japan's northern Pacific coast on Tuesday evening. It tore through the region, dumping torrential rain over a wide area, stranding communities, with roads and bridges destroyed or blocked, authorities said.

"We have 17 people who cannot be reached nor their safety confirmed," town official Yasuyuki Ishiguro told AFP, adding the number includes those who have been reported as missing, though he did not provide a breakdown. "We believe many of the 17 are in communities isolated after roads and communications were cut off," he added. "A wide area of the town remains inundated with mud and rubble." he said. Nine of the town's 10 dead were found on Wednesday morning buried inside a building of the elderly care facility after water, mud, trees and rubble gushed into it.