Numazu, JAPAN: Bereaved families of victims in a deadly mudslide in the city of Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, in July last year sued the central Japan city and prefecture Monday over the disaster.

Plaintiffs including the families filed the lawsuit with the Numazu branch of Shizuoka District Court to demand 6.4 billion yen in damages, claiming that the local governments were negligent in dealing with an artificial soil mound from which the mudslide started.

The mudslide occurred as the soil mound built on high ground collapsed following heavy rain, leaving 27 people dead and one missing.

In 2007, a property management company in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, a Shizuoka neighbor, reported to Atami in writing its plan to create the soil mound, according to a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs claim that the city accepted the report although the company left blank the report’s section on disaster prevention measures.

The plaintiffs also say that the city failed to order the company to take safety measures even though it recognized the danger of the soil mound.

The prefecture was sued for not telling the city to correct its response to the matter.

The Odawara company sold the land where the mound was built to the current owner before the collapse occurred.

The plaintiffs had filed a damages lawsuit against the previous and current owners of the land. The lawsuit is handled at the same branch.

Last month, another group including bereaved families submitted to the Shizuoka prefectural police a complaint accusing the Atami mayor of professional negligence resulting in death.

JIJI Press