Nine dead as typhoon Lionrock floods nursing home in northern Japan
Officials said more than 1,100 people have been rescued so far and accommodated in shelter homes.
Nine people died in Japan's Iwaizumi town on Wednesday after their nursing home got inundated because of heavy rain triggered by typhoon Lionrock, reported AP. Lionrock touched ground near Ofunato, about 500 km northeast of Tokyo on Tuesday evening.
The Japanese police said they found the bodies while reviewing the flood situation. With this, the toll from the typhoon rose to 11, reported Reuters. According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, all nine were elderly people. The nursing home housed patients suffering from dementia. Besides, one person is missing after a car got washed away in the flood, reported the state-run broadcaster.
The prefecture disaster prevention office in Iwaizumi told CNN that rescue operations were going on to evacuate 400 stranded people. More than 1,100 people have been rescued till now and accommodated in the shelter homes.
Two rivers are in spate after torrential rain lashed the northern part of the country. Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism said that the rivers breached embankments at several places on the northern island of Hokkaido. Police said many people are missing. Iwate prefecture has been the worst-hit, reported Reuters.
Just a day before Lionrock hit, another typhoon, Mindulle, made landfall in Japan's Chiba Prefecture. A total of 49,000 passengers were affected as Japan Airlines cancelled 148 domestic flights and All Nippon Airways cancelled 96 flights. Train services were delayed or cancelled in the morning in greater Tokyo and the Tokai region around Shizuoka Prefecture.