At least 36 people were killed on Wednesday after a massive landslide hit a residential area in Hiroshima, Japan.

Dozens of homes were struck by the landslide that was caused by continuous rain in the area.

In a statement released by Japan's Meteorological Agency, a month's worh of rain fell within the last 24 hours leading to the incident.

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The landslide left 36 people dead while seven others were still missing.

Other reports said the number of people unaccounted for was not yet confirmed, but that there were 15 people who were injured.

In the initial announcement by the Japanese government, only four people were reported dead, but during the following hours, the death toll rapidly went up.

A Hiroshima fire department spokesman told ABC, the full magnitude of the disaster is yet to be measured.

Helicopters were sent to the scene to airlift the survivors, while rescue workers and fire department marshals rifled through the wreckage to search for missing persons.

Two children, a two-year-old boy and his eleven-year-old brother, were among those who died in the landslide when their house was buried in mud while they slept.

An unidentified rescue worker, said to be 53 years old, died during the rescue operation when the hillside near where he was working on collapsed again.

Aerial footage of the landslide-stricken area showed the houses buried in mud as a flood of brown water ran down from the mountains near the houses, impeding search and rescue operations.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said a substantial number of troops will be deployed to expedite the search operations.

"I have ordered (government officials) to carry out the rescue operation in an integrated manner, aware of the possibility of further rain," Abe said.

The prime minister added that he had authorized government officials to increase the number of military personnel helping in the search.

Tagshiroshima, landslide