Death toll rises to six after torrential rain in Japan

Japanese rescuers found four bodies Saturday at the scene of a landslide in the north of the country, taking the total death toll from record rainfall to six. The bodies of a 93-year-old man, his 88-year-old wife and their son, 61, were found near their house in remote Senboku, Akita prefecture, local police said. Nearly 300 police and troops were still looking for the son's wife, an Akita police spokesman said. Their home was among eight buildings swallowed by a mudslide triggered by torrential rain that swept the region on Friday, the spokesman said. Rescue workers also found the body of a 58-year-old in the rubble in the same area. Heavy rain hit northern Japan on Friday, with some areas of Akita seeing up to a record 108 millimetres (more than four inches) of rain in an hour. The rainfall caused mudslides and rivers to overflow in Akita and neighbouring Iwate prefecture. On Friday, rescue workers in Iwate found the body of a 91-year-old woman, whose house in Hanamaki city was also hit by a mudslide. The Iwate police on Friday also found the body of a 62-year-old man who is believed to have drowned after being swept away by an overflowing river.