TOKYO, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Six people were confirmed dead and eight reportedly injured on Thursday as torrential rain pummelled southwestern Japan, causing intensive flooding and mudslides.
In Asakura City in Fukuoka prefecture, a body was discovered following the torrential rain, while three others were found in state of cardiopulmonary arrest and confirmed dead later in hospital.
In Hita City in Oita prefecture, two men were confirmed dead, one of which was found in a river and the other buried in a mudslide. Two others were injured in the mudslide.
Six people were injured and at least four were unaccounted for in Fukuoka prefecture, while 15 in Oita prefecture lost contact, according to local reports.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) lifted in the afternoon the "utmost vigilance" warnings it issued earlier in Fukuoka and Oita prefectures but still warned against possible heavy raining, landslide and flooding due to the "unstable atmospheric conditions."
The combined number of people in Fukuoka, Oita, Kumamoto prefectures advised to evacuate their homes and seek emergency shelter was reduced to some 106,000 people comprising 39,000 households as the rain became smaller in the afternoon, according to Kyodo News.
In the village of Toho in Fukuoka prefecture, 420 people remained stranded by 6:00 p.m. local time as local roads were destroyed by landslides.
Japan's Cabinet on Thursday convened at the Prime Minister's Office with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso standing in for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is in Germany for the G20 Summit.
The government has dispatched about 7,800 personnel, consisting of police officers, firefighters and members of the Self-Defense Forces for search and rescue operations and said a further 5,000 SDF troops are ready to be deployed.
The government said it has put in place a system to immediately dispatch relief supplies to be delivered to the places where they're most needed, adding that investigative teams will be sent to Fukuoka and Oita prefectures forthwith headed by senior Cabinet officials.
The weather agency said that the torrential rain was due to a band of cumulonimbus thunderstorm clouds -- clouds that tend to form a towering mass with a flat base at a fairly low altitude and often with a flat top -- staying over the area and moving with seasonal rain front.
Rainfall of over 50 millimeters per hour was registered in some areas and further downpours are expected through Friday, the JMA said.
