Grim task awaits rescuers

Nature’s wrath: Aerial view showing flooded homes beside the collapsed bank of the Chikuma river in Nagano prefecture, Japan.

Tokyo: Tens of thousands of rescue workers in Japan battled on to find survivors of a powerful typhoon that killed at least 56 people, as fresh rain threatened to hamper efforts.

Typhoon Hagibis crashed into the country on Saturday night, unleashing high winds and torrential rain across 36 of the country’s 47 prefectures, and triggering landslides and catastrophic flooding.