5 dead, more than 1,500 taken to hospitals as heat wave covers Japan

Jul 15, 2018 | News On Japan

Jul 15, 2018 (Japan Today) - Five people died and more than 1,500 others were taken to hospitals for heat exhaustion, as a heat wave covered Japan on Saturday, a Kyodo News tally showed.

Five died in five prefectures including Hiroshima -- one of the prefectures hit hardest by the recent torrential rains -- as temperatures there rose to 33.5 C to 37.4 C.

By prefecture, Osaka had the largest 156 people sent to hospitals on the first day of a three-day weekend in Japan, followed by 125 in Aichi and 102 in Chiba and Tokyo, while the mercury topped 38 C in some cities in Kyoto, Gifu and Mie.

In Okayama, also hit hard by the worst rain disaster in decades, at least 48 people were treated for heat illness.

Of 927 observation points nationwide of the Japan Meteorological Agency, 613 logged highs of at least 30 C, while the temperature topped 35 C at 161 locations.

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