Heatwave kills four in Japan | Inquirer News

Heatwave kills four in Japan

05:18 PM August 11, 2013

People enjoy bathing in a crowded swimming pool at Toshimaen amusement park in Tokyo on July 28, 2013. Some 15,000 people were expected to visit the park, with has a number of pools and water slides, to beat the summer heat. AFP PHOTO / Toru YAMANAKA

TOKYO — A heatwave stifled Japan Sunday as the temperature topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit ) in two cities, leaving at least four people dead over the weekend, officials and reports said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the temperature reached 40.6 C in Kofu, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Tokyo, in mid-afternoon.

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The weather agency had warned early Sunday that the temperature would soar past 35 C in 39 of the country’s 47 prefectures. It warned people to drink plenty of water and use air-conditioners.

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On Saturday the mercury topped 40 C for the first time in Japan since August 2007, when it had reached an all-time high of 40.9 C in two separate cities.

An 84-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man in western Japan died from heat stroke on Saturday after they were found collapsed in fields, Kyodo news agency said.

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Two more deaths from heat stroke were confirmed by officials on Sunday.

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An 80-year-old woman died in hospital after she was found collapsed at her wooden home Sunday morning in Arita, a city south of Osaka, a medical evacuation official said. The living room where she was found was not air-conditioned.

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In Saitama north of Tokyo, a 60-year-old man died in hospital after he was found unconscious on a street Saturday afternoon.

The heatwave, also gripping parts of China, has been caused by a Pacific high pressure system covering most of the Japanese islands, the weather agency said.

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In early July a heatwave in the country claimed at least a dozen lives, according to media reports.

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TAGS: Heatwave, Japan, Weather

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