By IANS,
Tokyo : Fifteen people were killed and 143 others were missing as typhoon Talas continued to ravage western Japan Sunday, Xinhua reported.
The powerful storm made landfall on Shikoku Island Saturday. In Wakayama prefecture alone, eight people were killed and 32 others were missing, the Kyodo news agency reported.
Earlier on Sunday, five people went missing after their houses in the prefecture in Honshu island were swept away by a huge landslide caused by the storm.
A mudslide had blocked a road in the Tanabe area of the prefecture, isolating over 190 households.
Meanwhile, a part of a 35-metre long rail bridge over the Nachi river in Nachikatsuura town collapsed. No injuries were reported. Rail services on the route were halted.
The government dispatched a team of investigators Sunday to assess the scale of the damage in Wakayama hard hit by the typhoon.
As of 3 p.m. Sunday, Talas packing winds of 108 kmph near its centre, was travelling northeast off the coast of Sea of Japan after moving across Okayama and Tottori prefectures of Honshu, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.