DHAKA: A huge landslide that engulfed homes in western Japan killed at least 27 people and left another 10 missing.

The government said on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.

Dozens of houses were buried when a wall of mud thundered down a hillside in Hiroshima overnight, television pictures showed, leaving rescuers to pick through the devastation for any signs of life.

‘According to the National Police Agency, the death toll has risen to 27 and 10 others are still unaccounted for,’ said an official of the disaster management office, a government body.

The number of dead had risen rapidly from an initial toll of four, although emergency services said it was too early to tell exactly how many people had lost their lives.

BDST: 1248 HRS, AUG 20, 2014