Typhoon Songda became the worst typhoon to hit Japan in recent years, leaving at least 24 dead by Wednesday morning with the toll expected to rise, authorities and news reports said.
The typhoon has injured more than 700 people since Tuesday, when it struck south-western Japan. Another 15 people were reported missing.
The powerful typhoon continued a devastating path across Japan early on Wednesday, hitting the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, killing at least four people and leaving one missing, police said.
Two of the deaths were men in Hokkaido’s city of Sapporo who died on Wednesday morning after large trees fell on them in separate incidents, police said.
Wind speeds of up to 108kph were recorded on Wednesday in Hokkaido, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency.
At least 27 people were injured in the prefecture, where more than 110 000 households lost electricity.
Weather officials said the typhoon was located 80km west of Wakkanai in Hokkaido early on Wednesday afternoon and was moving north-northeast at 35kph.
”We expect Typhoon Songda will move away from Japan later on Wednesday,” said a spokesperson from the agency.
On Tuesday, the typhoon hit Nagasaki prefecture, about 1 000km south-west of Tokyo, killing at least 20 people in the Kyushu and Shikoku regions.
About 700 people in south-western Japan were injured and more than 1 600 buildings destroyed, police and firefighters said.
Songda — named after a river in Vietnam — is the seventh typhoon to pummel Japan this year.
Among the people missing were 13 crew members of an Indonesian ship believed to have run aground on Tuesday in the stormy Seton Inland Sea during the height of the typhoon.
According to Japanese coast-guard officials, nine bodies, believed to be crew members from the Tri Ardhiant, were found by early Wednesday.
A Cambodian-registered ship also sank after docking at a port in Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima prefecture on Tuesday. Three of the ship’s 18 Russian crew members were confirmed dead. One more remained missing, while 14 were rescued.
Of the other typhoons to hit Japan this summer, Typhoon Chaba killed at least 13 people, while Typhoon Megi killed at least 10. — Sapa-DPA