The death toll from floods in the region of western Japan has topped 220 as per the local media on Tuesday.
One of the leading news media platforms of Japan cited the nation’s disaster agency mentioning that the death toll from the torrential rains and landslides dominating the entire region hit 222.
As many as 700 landslides have occurred in the nation’s 31 prefectures over the last two weeks of heavy rains.
Japanese authorities feel that the death toll would be rising further as around 30 people are still missing. Search and rescue operations with over 70,000 rescuers have been continuing in the flood-impacted area including Ehime, Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, around 6,700 people remained in shelters.
Up to 5.9 million people were ordered to leave their homes in 19 prefectures due to landslides and flooding.
The most casualties had been reported in the Hiroshima, Ehime, Okayama, Yamaguchi, Kyoto, Gifu, Shiga, Hyogo, Kochi and Fukuoka prefectures.
On July 9, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe canceled a planned trip to Europe and the Middle East due to the disaster.
