At Least 2 Missing in Kumamoto Pref. Hit by Record-Breaking Rain; Rescue Operations Ongoing

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:41 JST, August 11, 2025

At least two people are missing after Kumamoto Prefecture was hit by record-breaking heavy rain on Monday.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a “special heavy rain warning” for several municipalities in the prefecture.

According to the prefectural government and fire department, an emergency call was made from a woman in her 30s reporting that she had been caught in a landslide while trying to evacuate in her car in the town of Kosa. She was rescued along with a 4-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy, but a man in his 50s who was outside the car is missing.

In Tamana, an emergency call was made reporting that someone may have been swept away, and fire departments and others are conducting a search.

In Misato, an emergency call was made in the early hours of Monday reporting that a man was missing after a house was half-destroyed. Firefighters found the man, who is in his 60s, trapped in a mudslide with the lower half of his body buried. Rescue operations are ongoing.