Japanese Floods Leave 5 Dead

Heavy rain triggered floods and landslides that killed at least five people Monday and inundated more than 1,600 homes in southern and western Japan.

More than 16 inches of rain fell since Friday in Saga, Kumamoto, Fukuoka and Oita prefectures (states) on the southern island of Kyushu, and in parts of central Japan, weathermen said. More rain was expected Tuesday.

Landslides buried four road construction workers in Toyama, 159 miles west of Tokyo, and Nagano, 112 miles northwest of the capital, police said.

A 76-year-old farmer was killed when a landslide demolished his house on Tanegashima, an island at Kyushu’s southern tip.