Victims remembered 1 month after Kyushu downpours

August 5, 2017

ASAKURA, FUKUOKA PREF.- Prayers were offered in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Saturday for people killed in floods caused by downpours that hit the northern part of the Kyushu southwestern Japan region a month ago.

City government officials observed a minute of silence at 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT). Residents were asked by radio to offer a prayer.

"Asakura will definitely revive," said Shunsuke Morita, mayor of the hardest-hit city. "We will recreate the city as a safer and comfortable place to live," he said.

Morita said the city government is working to prepare for approaching Typhoon Noru, including by arranging to set up new evacuation centers. It is "striving to prevent secondary damage," he said.

In the Hakihayashida district, residents gathered around at the remains of a house where Yukitoshi Sakamoto, 79, and two other members of his family died, and prayed for their souls. Jiji Press