Japan: At least 27 people were killed and over 47 people were missing as torrential rain pounds western and central Japan on Saturday, media reports said.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued special weather warnings across four prefectures in the west of Japan’s main island of Honshu, urging vigilance against landslides, rising rivers and strong winds amid what it called “historic” rains.

In Motoyama, a town on Shikoku island about 600 km from Tokyo, 583 millimetres (23 inches) of rain fell between Friday and Saturday mornings, the Meteorological Agency said.

The agency said that although a weather front had settled between western and eastern Japan, there was a risk that heavy rains would continue as warm air flowed towards the front. Already-saturated areas faced more rain on Sunday, it said.

Among the dead were a man who fell from a bridge into a river in the western city of Hiroshima, and a 77-year-old man in Takashima, about 56 kilometres east of Kyoto, who was swept into a canal as he worked to remove debris, NHK said.

Five other people in Ehime, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures were in critical condition after being injured in landslides, the broadcaster said. (UNI)