3104<br/> <br />Eighteen people were confirmed dead and over a dozen were still missing on Wednesday (August 20) after landslides in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima caused by heavy rains.<br/> <br />Japanese media had reported that parts of Hiroshima city had seen their highest recorded levels of rainfall ever, with some areas seeing 204 millimetres (8.03 inches) of rain in 3 hours.<br/> <br />In three separate areas of Hiroshima city, landslides sparked by the heavy rains pushed rivers of mud through people's homes.<br/> <br />The city of Hiroshima had issued a landslide warning at slightly past 1 a.m. local time but many residents didn't realize anything was amiss until they saw their neighbourhoods floating away.<br/> <br />Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was playing a game of golf outside of Tokyo when he got the news, returned to his official office and announced that the government would deploy troops to help in the cleanup.<br/> <br />Japanese officials clarified that around 130 troops had alr
