2 killed as typhoon Talas batters Japan

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Pedestrians walk in the rain along a street in Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo, (Asian independent) Two people were killed and tens of thousands of households left without power after typhoon Talas lashed Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture with heavy rain on Saturday.

A man in his 40s died after his house was hit by a landslide in Kakegawa, while a 29-year-old man was found dead after his car plunged into a reservoir, Xinhua news agency quoted Kyodo News as saying in a report.

In a separate landslide in Hamamatsu, also in Shizuoka, three people including a nine-year-old boy suffered light injuries, local broadcaster NHK said.

Japanese supplier Chubu Electric Power Grid said that power was cut to about 120,000 households, and a landslide had knocked over two electricity pylons.

The 15th typhoon of the season, which came just a week after a powerful typhoon battered the country’s southwest, saw winds at its centre blowing at about 65 kph, with peak gusts of about 90 kph, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency.

The city of Shizuoka was hit particularly hard, with a record 417 mm of precipitation falling since the rain started on Thursday, it said.

The agency has issued warnings about high waves, heavy rains, landslides and floods in central, eastern and northern Japan, including Tokyo.

Japan is currently in its typhoon season.

Four people were killed and 151 injured after typhoon Nanmadol hit Kyushu last weekend.