Japan’s deadly heatwave now classified a ‘natural disaster’
On Monday, the city of Kumagaya in Saitama outside Tokyo set a new national heat record, with temperatures hitting 41.1 degrees Celsius
An “unprecedented” heatwave in Japan has killed at least 65 people in one week, government officials said Tuesday, with the weather agency now classifying the record-breaking weather as a “natural disaster”.
In the week to Sunday at least 65 people died of heatstroke while 22,647 people were hospitalised, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.
Both figures are “the worst-ever for any week during summer” since the agency began recording fatalities resulting from heatstroke in July 2008, an agency spokesman said.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday that a total of 80 people have died from the heat since the beginning of July, and over 35,000 have been hospitalised.
Among those killed was six-year-old schoolboy who lost consciousness on his way back from a field trip.
“As a record heatwave continues to blanket the country, urgent measures are required to protect the lives of schoolchildren,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters Tuesday.