Hiroshima, Aug 22: Highly water-retentive soils on the outskirts of this city, have caved into the pressures of the recent rains on Thursday and claimed life and limb in almost five valleys. The hillsides in these areas were swept down by heavy rainfall right into residential areas in the suburbs if West Japan. Homes were crushed and people scattered.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency pulled out dead bodies of close to 40 people and administered medical aid to 51 others. 13 have been admitted in close by medical facilities as they have sustained fatal wounds. Close to 2500 police and military personnel have been deployed to the site in order to help the victims and contain the situation. As they search for those missing the reported death toll seems to be on the rise.

City officials are facing a lot of flak from the powers that be for their apparent delay of a whole hour before they received the news and set off to the first place hit by the mudslide. Officials claim that their response was not delayed but they merely had to revisit their course of action as the mudslide hit various places at once.

Many of the buildings that collapsed are said to have been newly builds. More so residents here are under the constant threat of landslides due to the soil that easily gets washed into the rains. The highly populated Japanese suburbs in these parts need constant monitoring, as rainfall causes the soil to dislodge and makes the city prone to disasters!