Death toll rises to 3 as heavy rain lashes Japan

Death toll rises to 3 as heavy rain lashes Japan Tokyo, July 29 (IANS) One more body, reported to be of a missing police officer, was found in northeastern Japan after heavy rain lashed the regions and triggered flooding and landslides, bringing the death toll to three, local media reported. The body discovered in Shinjo, Yamagata prefecture, on Sunday is likely one of two police officers in their 20s who went missing after being swept away in a police car last Thursday, Kyodo News reported, citing local authorities. The other police officer had been found earlier and confirmed dead on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. On Friday, an 86-year-old man was found dead, believed to have been carried away by a flooded river in neighbouring Akita prefecture. Three other people went missing in the disaster affecting Yamagata and Akita, with torrential rain expected to continue in the area, the report said. In Sakata, Yamagata, an 86-year-old woman went missing while heading to an evacuation site with her family, while the whereabouts of two men in Akita prefecture remained unknown, it added. --IANS int/rs/khz