Japanese typhoon causes widespread damage

(Vatican Radio) : In Japan, a typhoon has left at least 17 people dead and about 50 missing. As Alastair Wanklyn reports from Tokyo, the storm caused damage across a wide area.

High winds and heavy rain triggered mudslides, destroying homes and blocking roads.

The damage was worst on the island of Izu Oshima, where water and mud tore through almost 300 houses around dawn, crushing the buildings and sweeping away residents unable to flee.

In Tokyo, one woman died after falling into a flooded river. Rescuers found her body ten kilometers downstream.

And high winds off the coast of South Korea left several sailors dead when their cargo ship dragged its anchor and drifted into a harbour wall. Conditions were so rough South Korean coast guard crews reportedly took two hours to reach the ship, which sank a short while later.

At railway stations and airports across the region...

...many trains and flights were cancelled.

And at the Fukushima nuclear plant workers braced for heavy rainfall, fearing it would result in a surge in contaminated runoff around the ruined reactors. So, they emptied some storage reservoirs in advance, pouring low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean; but the storm passed, causing no reported damage there. Listen