No less than 36 people have died and several others are missing after landslides struck the Japanese city of Hiroshima Wednesday morning, according to a report from AP.

Hiroshima officials on Wednesday night confirmed the death toll, which included children and some elderly residents. It remains unclear how many people are missing, because of the nature of the disaster.

"A few people were washed away and it is hard to know exactly how many are unaccounted for," local government official Nakatoshi Okamoto said.

Hiroshima residents are trapped in several locations throughout the city and rescue crews have confirmed that at least 15 people have been injured, according to news reports. A firefighter from the Hiroshima Fire Department was also buried alive while trying to rescue victims.

Japan's meteorological agency reported that around 9 inches of rain fell on the city in 24 hours, a record over that period of time equal to about a month's worth of rain. The heavy precipitation triggered the landslides.

"There was rain and thunder all night, beating down so hard I was scared to go outside," a Hiroshima resident said. "Great big drops. I've never seen anything like this."

Hiroshima authorities sent out an evacuation advisory notice about an hour after the first landslide on Wednesday, but one official said that wasn't nearly enough time to allow people to evacuate, Reuters reported.

"Something went wrong in our analysis (of the situation) ... We failed to issue an evacuation advisory ahead of the disaster," a Hiroshima fire official said. "Looking back, I believe this is something we need to amend."

Land is a relatively scarce commodity in Japan, meaning that development often must go into more mountainous areas, like the area afflicted by the landslides. The soil was the type that absorbed water until it could hold no more then released and slid down the slope.

Rescue crews made up of several hundred workers are still working to free people that have been trapped and many schools have become shelters.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to Tokyo from his vacation to deal with the disaster.