At least eight people died and 12 went missing in Japan on Wednesday as torrential rains swept through a wide swathe of the country, triggering mudslides and floods, local media reported. More than 60 cm (23.62 inches) of rain has fallen in the last few days, disrupting rail and road traffic.

Weather forecasters warned that the rain could continue and might trigger more mudslides and floods in central and western Japan. An 80-year-old woman was found dead after her home was crushed by mudslides in Okaya in central Japan, a local official said.

About 200 troops joined hundreds of rescue workers in searching collapsed houses and swollen rivers for those missing in the region. A 26-year-old man went missing after his car was swept into a river in the central Japanese prefecture of Gifu Prefecture, Kyodo news agency said.

Two people remained unaccounted for after a mudslide buried a house in Kyoto prefecture on Wednesday, Kyodo quoted local officials as saying.
(Planet Ark, 20/07/2006)