for worker swept into swollen river in Tokyo



A worker was swept into the Nomi River in Tokyo's Ota-ku while conducting bank protection work after the river became swollen with rain on Tuesday morning, police said.

Denenchofu Police Station and Tokyo Fire Department workers have launched a search for the man, who is believed to be in his 50s.

Officials said that at the time the man went missing, he was removing stones from the bottom of the river with several other workers so that an excavator could move about. At first, the river was only several dozen centimeters deep, but after it rained, the river quickly rose to a level of 2 meters, and the worker was apparently swept away before he had a chance to escape.

The metropolitan government's No. 2 construction office said that the Nomi River is 11 meters wide. Bank protection work had been carried out since March.