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Deadliest typhoon kills at least 44 in Japan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-21 11:43

Rescuers were searching through rubble for survivors on Thursday after Japan's deadliest typhoon in a decade triggered floods and landslides that killed at least 44 people and left 36 missing.

Typhoon Tokage headed out to sea after sideswiping Tokyo and was downgraded to a tropical depression around 9 a.m. on Thursday (2400 GMT on Wednesday).

Trucks and buses are submerged in a river flood after deadly Typhoon Tokage brought heavy rain to the western Japanese city of Maizuru Japan October 21, 2004. Rescuers across Japan were searching for survivors on Thursday after Japan's deadliest typhoon in a decade triggered floods and landslides, local reports said. [Reuters]

It was a record 10th typhoon to hit Japan this year and the death toll was the highest since the 48 people killed or still unaccounted for after a typhoon in 1993.

Many people died in landslides set off by heavy rains that pounded much of Japan on Wednesday. Others died in flooding or were swept away by massive waves as Tokage, which means lizard in Japanese, roared northeast.

Thirty-seven people, most of them elderly tourists, were forced to spend the night huddled together on top of a bus after being stranded by floodwater.

They were rescued by helicopter and rubber boat early on Thursday. One elderly woman collapsed into her rescuer's arms as soon as she was safe.

A man on the same bus told NHK national television: "As the water rose, we all held on to each other's shoulders to stay together. My back is still hurting."

Rescuers in the western Japanese prefecture of Okayama began digging through the rubble of seven homes crushed in a landslide, hoping to find survivors.

A vehicle is crushed under a fallen tree due to typhoon Tokage in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan October 20, 2004. Tokage -- which means "lizard" in Japanese -- hit western Japan on Wednesday, killing at least two people and snarling transport as it lashed the country with heavy rains that set off landslides and forced thousands to evacuate. [Reuters]

Among the dead were three people killed when high waves battered through a concrete breakwater and smashed into their home in Kochi, on Shikoku island in western Japan.

"The waves just came up and crashed down on us," one woman said.

Television showed people holding on to power poles to stay on their feet as the storm swept up the coast towards Tokyo.

Telephone poles stuck up out of muddy water that still covered vast areas near the ancient capital city of Kyoto.

Tokyo was buffeted by strong winds and rain but no major damage was reported.

During the worst of the storm, thousands of people were urged to evacuate to schools and public halls out of fear of flooding and landslides. At least 40,000 homes lost power at one point.

Residents stranded in their flooded home await rescue on their balcony October 21, 2004 after Typhoon Tokage brought heavy rain to the western Japanese city of Toyooka, Japan. Rescuers across Japan were searching for survivors on Thursday after Japan's deadliest typhoon in a decade triggered floods and landslides that killed at least 31 people and left 39 missing. [Reuters]

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda promised government help for affected areas.

"I would like to express my heart-felt condolences... We will take all possible measures," he told reporters.

Storms and floods have now killed more than 100 people in Japan this year and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The previous typhoon, Ma-on, pummelled Tokyo and killed six people across the country earlier this month.

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