Firefighters and police searched the disaster-hit area in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, and found two men and one woman on Saturday afternoon. They were later confirmed to be members of a family who had been reported missing since the landslide, Xinhua reported.

At around 4 a.m. local time on Friday, a slope measuring around 50 meters wide and 100 meters high collapsed from a mountain, with mud flowing into nearby homes and apartments.

Local authorities had been searching for the three missing people after the disaster.

The landslide occurred as the country's weather agency warned of heavy rain mainly in western Japan, urging people to be on high alert for landslides and flooding in low-lying areas.