Death toll rises to 155 in Japan flooding, mudslides

July 10 (UPI) -- The death toll on Tuesday rose to more than 150 people in the flooding and mudslides in western Japan, the government said.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday with the heavy rain that triggered the floods, 155 people are now confirmed dead and one person has no vital signs.

More than 60 people are still unaccounted for, including those in one of the hardest-hit areas, Hiroshima prefecture, Suga said. Rescuers are digging through mud and rubble for survivors.

Police, Japan's Coast Guard, firefighters and 179 helicopters are involved in the rescue. The government is also focusing on restoring the roads and the water supply.

The toll, up from 141 previously, is the highest Japan has seen from a flood in more than three decades, UNI reported.

The extreme rainfall that Japan's Meteorological Agency called "historic" began Thursday and continued to pummel the region through Sunday.

Officials have evacuated about two million people after rives banks burst. School halls and gymnasiums have been opened to shelter the displaced, BBC News reported.

Around 54,000 police officers, firefighters and Japan's Self-Defense Forces were mobilized over the weekend. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that number had risen to 73,000 Monday and promised the "utmost efforts to save lives."