Rescue teams face ‘race against time’ in search for trapped survivors as death toll in Japan rises to at least 13 – as it happened

Emergency rescue workers in southern Japan are persistently scouring the area for survivors following a recent powerful earthquake. The death toll has since risen to a minimum of 13 as a result of the disaster. The ongoing search for missing individuals has been dubbed a "race against time" by the rescue teams.

An aerial photograph captured a collapsed segment of a bridge in the city of Yatsushiro, which was struck by an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.1. The quake hit the southern Kumamoto prefecture in Japan.

The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported on the situation at the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro, where a chimney collapsed onto the site. A 33-year-old worker at the factory recounted his experience, expressing disbelief at the disaster. He stated, "I never imagined something like this would happen," adding that he was unharmed as he was off-duty and at home at the time of the quake.

He expressed concern for his colleagues who might have been inside the factory. The names of those who have been rescued and those still trapped remain undisclosed.