Rescuers look through mud for Japan flood victims; 122 dead

Rescuers combed through mud-covered hillsides and near riverbanks Tuesday to look for dozens of people still missing after days of heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides in southwestern Japan, where the death toll has risen to 122.

Officials and reports say more than 80 people are still unaccounted for, many of them in the hardest-hit Hiroshima area. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 122 people have been confirmed dead as of early Tuesday.

Firefighters with rescue dogs search for missing people after heavy rain hit southwestern Japan, in Kumano town, Hiroshima prefecture, Monday, July 9, 2018. Rescuers in southwestern Japan dug up more bodies Monday as they searched for dozens still missing after heavy rains caused severe flooding and left residents to return to their homes unsure where to start the cleanup. (Kyodo News via AP)

Several days of heavy rainfall that weather officials have called historic set off flooding and landslides in widespread areas of western Japan, including Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime prefectures. Many people started to return and check on their homes and begin cleanup after the rain stopped Monday.

The government has set up a taskforce to speed up deliveries of supplies and other support for evacuation centers and residents in the region, but disrupted roads and other ground transportation have delayed shipment, raising concerns of shortages.

Minoru Katayama, 86, rushed back to his home in Mabi city, in Okayama prefecture, on Monday, and found his 88-year-old wife, Chiyoko, dead on the first floor. Floodwaters rose so fast they caught the couple by surprise.

"My wife could not climb up the stairs, and nobody else was around to help us out," Katayama told national broadcaster NHK. His wife was among more than 20 people who were found dead in the city, where a river dike collapsed.

Rescuers conduct a search operation for missing persons in Kumano town, Hiroshima prefecture, western Japan Monday, July 9, 2018. People prepared for risky search and cleanup efforts in southwestern Japan on Monday, where several days of heavy rainfall had set off flooding and landslides in a widespread area. (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP)

The assessment of casualties has been difficult because of the widespread area affected. Officials in Ehime prefecture asked the central government to review a weather warning system, noting that rain warnings were issued after damage and casualties were occurring. The Japan Meteorological Agency said as much as 10 centimeters (3 inches) of rain per hour fell on large parts of southwestern Japan.

Some homes were smashed, while others were tilting precariously. Rivers overflowed, turning towns into lakes and leaving dozens of people stranded on rooftops. Military paddle boats and helicopters brought people to the ground.

Thousands of homes were without clean water and electricity in Hiroshima and other hard-hit areas, where many people lined up for water tanks under the scorching sun, with temperature rising as high as 34 Celsius (93 Fahrenheit), which prompted concerns about people's health. Thousands have evacuated their homes.

At a local elementary school in Hiroshima's Yano district, dozens of residents took shelter and some shared their stories of narrow escape from the landslides and floods. Supplies such as water, blankets and cellphone chargers were provided.

Relatives react to a landslide site where three people were killed, after heavy rain hit southwestern Japan, in Uwajima, Ehime prefecture, Monday, July 9, 2018. Rescuers in southwestern Japan dug up more bodies Monday as they searched for dozens still missing after heavy rains caused severe flooding and left residents to return to their homes unsure where to start the cleanup. (Takuto Kaneko/Kyodo News via AP)

Ryutaro Hirakawa, 18, said he fled his house after smelling a strange odor coming from the ground, a sign of a landslide. "The smell of soil and grass was so strong when I opened the window," he said. "There were landslides."

Another resident, 82-year-old Saburo Yokoyama, said he was horrified when he saw floodwater flowing just outside his house. "It was scary, just scary. In front of our house had become a river, and was making a huge noise," he said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe canceled his planned July 11-18 trip to Europe and the Middle East to oversee the emergency response. Abe said earlier Monday that the government had dispatched 73,000 troops and emergency workers for the search and rescue effort.

In this Monday, July 9, 2018, photo, a roof of a house is left in the middle of a road in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, western Japan. Rescuers in southwestern Japan dug up more bodies Monday as they searched for dozens still missing after heavy rains caused severe flooding and left residents to return to their homes unsure where to start the cleanup. More than 100 people were confirmed dead in the disaster. (Yohei Nishimura/Kyodo News via AP)

Residents return to their house and look at the damage after heavy rain hit southwestern Japan, in Kure, Hiroshima prefecture, Monday, July 9, 2018. Rescuers in southwestern Japan dug up more bodies Monday as they searched for dozens still missing after heavy rains caused severe flooding and left residents to return to their homes unsure where to start the cleanup. (Kyodo News via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s air force claimed Friday it shot down a Russian strategic bomber, but Moscow officials said the plane crashed in a sparsely populated area due to a malfunction after a combat mission.

Neither claim could be independently verified. Previous Ukrainian claims of shooting down Russian warplanes during their more than two-year war have met with silence or denials from Moscow.

Meanwhile, Russian missiles struck cities in the central Dnipro region of Ukraine, killing eight people, including a 14-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy, and injuring 28, local officials said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated Kyiv officials’ almost daily appeals for more Western air defense systems, again drawing a parallel with how Israel blunted a recent Iranian attack.

Missile and drone attacks can be thwarted, he wrote on social platform X: “This has been demonstrated in the skies over the Middle East, and it should also work in Europe."

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba added: “Children must not be killed in airstrikes in modern Europe.”

Russia’s air force is vastly more powerful than Ukraine’s, but sophisticated missile systems provided by Kyiv’s Western partners are a major threat to Russian aviation as the Kremlin’s forces slowly push forward along the around 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in what has become a grinding war of attrition. Ukrainian officials say they expect a major Russian offensive in the summer.

Ukraine said the air force and military intelligence cooperated to bring down the Tu-22M3 bomber with anti-aircraft missiles. Russia commonly uses the bomber to fire Kh-22 cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets from inside its own airspace. The plane can also carry nuclear warheads.

The Russian defense ministry said the warplane crashed “in a deserted area” in the southern region of Stavropol, hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Three crew members were rescued after ejecting from the aircraft, and the search for a fourth is taking place, according to the ministry. But Stavropol Gov. Vladimir Vladimirov said one of the rescued pilots died.

On Christmas Eve, Ukraine claimed to have shot down two Russian fighter jets. In January, the Ukrainian air force said it shot down a Russian early warning and control plane and a key command center aircraft that relays information to troops on the ground, in what appeared to be a significant blow for the Kremlin’s forces. The next month, Ukraine said it knocked out another early warning and control plane.

Also in January, Moscow accused Kyiv of shooting down a Russian military transport plane that was carrying Ukrainian POWs who were headed for a prisoner swap.

Russian forces overnight conducted a combined aerial attack with the use of 22 missiles of various types and 14 Shahed drones during the night, the Ukrainian air force said. All the drones and 15 of the missiles were intercepted, it said.

The attack hit urban areas as well as train infrastructure in the Dnipro region, Ukraine’s National Railway Operator said. Among those killed in the strikes was employee Oksana Storozhenko, the mother of two teenage sons, it said.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers and ambulance workers carry a person on the scene of a Russian attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers work on the scene of a building damaged after a Russian attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers and ambulance workers carry a person on the scene of a Russian attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers and ambulance workers carry a person at the scene of a Russian attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, local residents leave an apartment building, damaged after a Russian attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP Photo)