Typhoon leaves at least four dead, 116 injured

After wreaking havoc across the archipelago, Typhoon Melor swept into the Pacific off southern Hokkaido Friday, leaving at least four people dead and 116 injured as high wind and wave warnings remained in place for the region.

The death toll from Melor, the season's 18th typhoon and the first to hit Japan in two years, rose by two Friday. The body of carp farm employee Mamoru Yatsumori, 63, who disappeared Thursday after falling into a pond at the farm in Kami, Miyagi Prefecture, was found Friday morning, local police said.

In Saitama, Katsuji Hanaoka, 61, was pronounced dead at a hospital Friday morning after he was blown from his second-floor balcony the previous day, local police said.

It was earlier reported that in Minabe, Wakayama Prefecture, newspaper deliveryman Hiroshi Kitahara, 54, died after hitting a tree felled by the typhoon while making deliveries on his bike. In Fujimi, Saitama Prefecture, Masaichi Kaji, 69, was killed after being hit by a broken tree branch at a shrine, local police said.

The drowning of a 46-year-old surfer in rough seas off Kanagawa Prefecture was reported Wednesday, but police are still investigating the cause of death and have not directly linked it to the typhoon.

A Kyodo News tally showed that 116 injured people had been reported in 23 prefectures as of Friday morning.

Melor also spawned several tornadoes. In Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, a tornado damaged roofs and storerooms at 50 to 60 households, local police said.