Heavy rain continues in Japan as 59 die in floods

Heavy rain persisted in parts of central Japan on Thursday, while rescue workers searched for more people missing in the floods that have already killed nearly 60 people in a southern region.

In Fukuoka prefecture workers were seen clearing rubble and damaged possessions, while rain continued to fall in Kagoshima prefecture.

Parts of Nagano and Gifu, including areas known for scenic mountain trails and hot springs, have been flooded by massive downpours.

As of Thursday morning, the death toll from the heavy rains which started over the weekend had risen to 59, most of them from hardest-hit Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's third largest island of Kyushu.

Searching continued for 14 still missing in Kumamoto.

Japan is at high risk of heavy rain in early summer when wet and warm air from the East China Sea flows into a seasonal rain front above the country.

In July 2018 more than 200 people, about half of them in Hiroshima, died from heavy rain and flooding in southwestern Japan.

Japan's Meteorological Agency officials said the seasonal rain front has stayed above Japan longer than usual, prompting heavy rain to persist.