[AFP]Emergency services in western Japan were "racing against time" on Tuesday to rescue people stranded by devastating floods and landslides that have killed at least 50 people, with more torrential rain forecast. Kentaro Oishi, who owns a rafting business in the hot springs resort of Hitoyoshi City, told AFP that emergency services drafted him in to rescue stranded locals. Japan has been relatively lightly affected by the pandemic, with just under 20,000 cases and fewer than 1,000 deaths. Japan is in the middle of its annual rainy season, which frequently unleashes deadly floods and landslides. In 2018, more than 200 people died in devastating floods in the same region of Japan.

Source: Standard Digital July 07, 2020 06:11 UTC