At least 11 dead, over 5,000 hospitalized as extreme heat engulfs Japan

At least 11 people died and 5,664 were hospitalized over just past week as a sudden heatwave overspread across all parts of Japan, the Japanese Fire and Disaster Agency informed on Tuesday, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

Between July 22 and 28, the number of people admitted to Japanese hospitals spiked thrice as intense high temperature soared up to 32-35 degrees Celsius, the agency said.

The heat wave came as an abrupt shift from relatively cold June and July when temperatures plummeted to the 30-year low for the time period of early summer, the report added.

According to The Japan Times newspaper, on Sunday, temperatures reached 35.8 C degrees in Hatoyama, Saitama Prefecture, 35.7 C in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, 35.5 C in Daigo, Ibaraki Prefecture, and 35.4 C in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, according to the Meteorological Agency. Temperatures rose above 30 degrees also in Chiba, Tottori, Fukuoka and Yamanashi prefectures.

Moreover, Hokkaido Railway Co.partially suspended the train traffic, mainly those departing from and arriving at stations in the eastern part of Hokkaido, due to fears of rail distortion by the strong heatwave, according to the Japanese-based media reports.