Japan sounds 'heaviest rain ever' alert

KURUME, Japan — At least two people were killed and hundreds of thousands were urged to evacuate their homes in southwestern Japan on Monday, as forecasters warned of the "heaviest rain ever "in the region.

Downpours after a week of steady rain have caused rivers to burst their banks and sodden earth to collapse in deadly landslides, including one that killed a 77-year-old woman.

The woman's home was engulfed overnight in the Saga region, the local fire department told Agence France-Presse. Her husband was recovered conscious and taken to hospital.

A landslide in Kurume city, Fukuoka region, swallowed 10 people. Nine of them survived, but a local man in his 70s was confirmed dead, the city's disaster management official told AFP.

Rain in the region slowed or stopped by Monday afternoon. But earlier in the day, more than 420,000 people were put under a top-level evacuation warning stating: "Your life is in danger, you need to take action immediately."

Nearly 2 million more in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Saga, Yamaguchi and Oita were under a lower-level warning, urging them to evacuate if they were in hazardous areas.

Japan has five levels of evacuation orders, but people cannot be compelled to leave their homes.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the heavy downpours risked flooding and landslides across Fukuoka and Oita.

"This is the heaviest rain ever experienced" by the region, Satoshi Sugimoto of JMA's forecast division told reporters.

Footage on national broadcaster NHK showed a gash in the hillside above a home in Karatsu city that had partly collapsed into a river, with many of its traditional roof tiles smashed or sliding off.

Images from elsewhere showed surging rivers washing over bridges that normally sit well above the waterline, and floodwater turning local streets into streams.

Meanwhile, torrential rains in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have killed at least 34 people in the past 24 hours, the staterun broadcaster All India Radio said on Monday.

Five people drowned in Raebareli district and four others drowned in Bareilly district, while deaths due to lightning and heavy rain also occurred in Muzaffarnagar, Kaushambi Etah, Kannauj, Budaun, Ghazipur, Jalaun and Kanpur Dehat, All India Radio said.

Schools in New Delhi were closed on Monday after heavy monsoon rains battered the capital.

India's weather agency has forecast more heavy rains in the north in the coming days.

Agencies - Xinhua