Abe Visits Rain-Stricken Areas in Hiroshima

July 22, 2018

Mihara, Hiroshima Pref.- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited on Saturday areas in Hiroshima Prefecture devastated by mudslides and floods caused by torrential rain earlier this month.

Abe visited evacuation centers in the city of Mihara and the town of Saka to encourage people taking shelters there.

In Aki Ward in the city of Hiroshima, the prime minister offered a silent prayer for two police officers killed there in the disaster.

Hiroshima is one of the prefectures hit hardest by the disaster that struck wide areas of western Japan.

The death toll from the disaster reached 218 as of Friday, the worst for a rain disaster in the country since the current Heisei era began in 1989.

The toll included 107 in Hiroshima, 61 in Okayama Prefecture and 26 in Ehime Prefecture.

Abe visited disaster areas in Okayama and Ehime last week. Jiji Press