Japan heatwave now classified as ‘natural disaster’
TOKYO (AP) — An “unprecedented” heatwave in Japan has killed at least 65 people in one week, government officials said yesterday, 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 hospitalized, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.
Both figures are “the worstever 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 yesterday that a total of 80 people have died from the heat since the beginning of July, and over 35,000 have been hospitalized. 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 school- children,” spokesman top Yoshihide government Suga told reporters yesterday.
The government said it would supply funds to ensure all schools are equipped with air conditioners by next summer.
Less than half of Japan’s public schools have air conditioning, and the figure is only slightly higher at public kindergartens.
Suga said the government would also consider extending this year’s summer school holidays as the heatwave drags on.
On Monday, the city of Kumagaya in Saitama outside Tokyo set a new national heat record, with temperatures hitting 41.1 degrees Celsius.
And temperatures over 40 degrees were registered for the first time in Tokyo’s metro area, where the government is promoting Uchimizu, a tradition where water is sprinkled onto the ground, as part of a summer heat awareness campaign.
It was marginally cooler yesterday, but temperatures remained well above normal in most of the country, and little relief is forecast.