Several missing as massive rains batter southwestern Japan

Massive rains continued to pound southwestern Japan, triggering landslides, suspending train services, and leaving several people missing on Monday.

Rain-triggered landslides washed away several houses and cars in Kumamoto prefecture, prompting authorities to launch search and rescue operations, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

A landslide swept away a car in Kosa town, leaving a man unaccounted for. Three others in the vehicle were rescued while a rescue operation is underway in the town of Misato for a resident trapped in a collapsed house.

In the neighboring prefecture of Fukuoka, two people were feared washed away in a river on Sunday evening.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters that his government is "committed to implementing disaster response measures," while urging residents to remain vigilant.

A rainband stretching across the Japanese archipelago has inundated wide areas of the country, bringing extreme rainfall in Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures.

Tamana in Kumamoto recorded 370 millimeters of rainfall in six hours through early Monday, nearly double the city's average precipitation for all of August, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

All bullet train services in the region were suspended through Monday.

On Sunday, authorities issued an evacuation order for 113,117 residents of the city of Karatsu on the island of Kyushu due to heightened landslide risk from heavy rains.