The number of people taken to hospital by ambulance due to heatstroke symptoms in Japan in July tumbled about 50 percent from a year before to 8,388, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Wednesday.
The total dropped sharply from 16,431 marked in July last year, apparently because temperatures were relatively low this year, with heavy rains hitting the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto and elsewhere in the country.
Of the total, 18 people died and 192 were in serious condition.
People aged 65 or over accounted for 58.5 percent of the total figure.
