TOKYO, July 28 (Reuters) - Heavy rain and flooding hit central and western Japan on Monday, killing at least three and leading authorities to issue temporary evacuation orders to thousands in the area.
An official at a fire department in Kobe, 435 km southwest of Tokyo, said the Coast Guard had found three people, including two children, dead in Toga River in the city.
National broadcaster NHK reported that 11 people, including some children playing beside the same river, had been swept away.
Domestic media also showed a muddy river overflowing in the city of Kanazawa, about 300 km west of Tokyo, a bridge broken in the storms, and trucks nearly submerged in water in central and western Japan.
Japan's Meteorological Agency issued flooding and landslide warnings in areas hit by the rain and said more thunderstorms may hit northern, central and western Japan on Monday evening.
(Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
