TOKYO (AP) — Rain-sodden slopes collapsed in torrents of mud, rock and debris early Wednesday in the outskirts of Hiroshima, killing at least 10 people and leaving 22 missing, the government said. 
 
 In this aerial photo, a rescue helicopter hovers over an area devastated by a massive landslide in Hiroshima, western Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. A several people died and at least a dozen are missing... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this aerial photo, a survivor is lifted by a rescue helicopter from an area devastated by a massive landslide in Hiroshima, western Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. A several people died and at least... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this aerial photo, rescue workers search for survivors after a massive landslide swept through residential areas in Hiroshima, western Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. A several people died and at... (Associated Press) 
 
 Half buried houses are seen following a massive landslides swept through residential area in Hiroshima, western Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. A several people died and at least a dozen are missing... (Associated Press) 
 
 A troop of police rescue personnel head out for rescue operation after a massive landslides swept through residential area in Hiroshima, western Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. A several people died... (Associated Press) 
 
 Video footage from the national broadcaster NHK showed rescue workers suspended by ropes from police helicopters pulling victims from the rubble. Others gingerly climbed into windows as they searched for survivors in crushed homes. 
 
 Hillsides caved in or were swept down into residential areas in least five valleys in the suburbs of the western Japanese city after heavy rains left slopes unstable. 
 
 The Fire and Disaster Management Agency, citing the local government, said 10 people were confirmed dead and another 22 were missing as of mid-afternoon. It said 19 people were injured, two seriously. 
 
 "A few people were washed away and it is hard to know exactly how many are unaccounted for," said local government official Nakatoshi Okamoto, noting that the conditions in the disaster area were hindering efforts to account for all those affected. 
 
 Authorities issued warnings that further rains could trigger more landslides and flooding. 
 
 Landslides are a constant risk in mountainous, crowded Japan, where many homes are built on or near steep slopes. Torrential rains in the early morning apparently caused slopes to collapse in an area where many of the buildings were newly constructed. 
 
 Damage from land and mudslides has increased over the past few decades due to more frequent heavy rains, despite extensive work on stabilizing slopes. In the past decade there have been nearly 1,200 landslides a year, according to the land ministry, up from an average of about 770 a year in the previous decade. 
 
 In October last year, multiple mudslides on Izu-Oshima, an island south of Tokyo, killed 35 people, four of whose bodies were never recovered. Those slides followed a typhoon that dumped a record 824 millimeters (more than 32 inches) of rain in a single day. 

 HIROSHIMA At least 36 people, including several children, were killed in Japan on Wednesday, when landslides triggered by torrential rain slammed into the outskirts of the western city of Hiroshima, and the toll could rise further, police said. 
 
 Seven people were missing after a month's worth of rain fell overnight, loosening slopes already saturated by heavy rain over the past few weeks. 
 
 "There was rain and thunder all night, beating down so hard I was scared to go outside," a resident told Fuji TV. "Great big drops. I've never seen anything like this." 
 
 Helicopters clattered overhead, lifting out survivors, as rescue workers searched through mud and piles of stones in residential areas about 5 km (3 miles) from the city centre. 
 
 Among those dug out of the debris were two brothers, aged eleven and two, whose house was struck as they slept. 
 
 A child's red school bag, covered in mud, lay in the debris. Houses had been pushed 100 metres (yards) by the landslide in the worst-hit area, where thick, knee-high mud hampered rescue efforts. 
 
 "The rain was just pouring down and the street in front of my house turned into a river," a man in his 70s told national television NHK. 
 
 Hiroshima city authorities issued an evacuation advisory notice about an hour after the first landslide on Wednesday. 
 
 "Something went wrong in our analysis (of the situation) ... We failed to issue an evacuation advisory ahead of the disaster. Looking back, I believe this is something we need to amend," an official at the city's fire department said. 
 
 The soil in the area was of a kind that absorbed water until it suddenly loosened and slid, increasing the danger, disaster management experts told NHK. 
 
 Cities in land-scarce Japan often expand into mountainous areas, leaving such development vulnerable to landslides. 
 
 About 240 mm (9 inches) of rain fell in the area in the 24 hours up to Wednesday morning, a record-breaking level equivalent to a month's worth of rain in a usual August, the Meteorological Agency said. Roughly half of that rain fell in one hour on Wednesday. 
 
 The force of the landslide crumbled asphalt roads, while streams of mud tore through neighbourhoods, turning houses into piles of twisted wreckage. Boulders with a diameter of as much as three metres (yards) lay scattered around. 
 
 More rain was likely in western Japan later on Wednesday. 
 
 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut short his summer vacation to head back to Tokyo. He said he would dispatch several hundred military personnel to help with rescue efforts. By Wednesday evening, about 500 such troops had been sent in. 
 
 Landslides killed 31 people in Hiroshima in 1999, including six in the same area hit this time. 
 
 (Writing by Elaine Lies, Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Robert Birsel and Clarence Fernandez)
– Landslides on the outskirts of Hiroshima killed at least 36 people early today and authorities in the Japanese city warn that the death toll is likely to rise and at least seven people are still missing. Authorities say the landslides were triggered when as much rain as usually falls in the whole month of August fell over a 24-hour period, loosening slopes already unstable after weeks of heavy rain and burying houses in mud and rocks, Reuters reports. Several children are among the dead, and heavy mud is hampering the search and rescue effort, the AP reports. More rain is forecast in the next few days and authorities warn that more landslides and flooding could be on the way.