YAMAGATA: A man was confirmed dead Saturday in the city of Shinjo, Yamagata Prefecture, northeastern Japan, which has been hit by torrential rain recently, the prefectural police department said.

The department is working to identify the man. He is believed to be a police officer who went missing after possibly being swept away while heading by police car to a local resident for rescue amid the heavy rain Thursday night.

According to the police department, the man was discovered in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest around 10:50 a.m. Saturday near a river some 1.7 kilometers downstream from the place where the police car was found.

Aboard the police car heading for the rescue were a 26-year-old police officer and an officer in his 20s, both from the Shinjo police station. The former was confirmed dead after being found Friday.

In Yamagata, part of the Tohoku northeastern region and facing the Sea of Japan, the heavy rain has claimed the lives of two people. A woman from the city of Sakata in the prefecture has been missing.

With the Sea of Japan side of the Tohoku region forecast to see heavy rain until around Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency urged local people to remain on high alert for rising rivers, landslides and flooding of low-lying areas.

In some areas, rainfall is seen reaching 120 millimeters in the 24 hours to 6 p.m. Monday and 100 millimeters in the following 24 hours, according to the agency.

JIJI Press