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Almost 15,000 people rushed to hospitals in a week amid Japan heatwave

Tokyo, Jul 6 (EFE).- About 15,000 people were treated for heat stroke or heat exhaustion in hospitals across Japan during the last week amid record high temperatures in the country, according to official figures released Wednesday.

Between Jun. 27 and Jul. 3, a total of 14,353 people were taken to hospitals in the country, the highest figure for this period since 2010, when the Fire and Disaster Management Agency began releasing this data.

Of the total cases, 57 percent were elderly, 33 percent were adults and the rest were young people and children.

A total of 27 people have died due to the heat wave over the past week.

“On top of the unusual heat wave, some people may have had difficulty adjusting to the sharp rise in temperature,” an agency official said, local news agency Kyodo reported.

Temperatures in central Tokyo reached 36.4 degrees Celsius on June 30, a record for the month, amid a warning about a possible power crunch in the country.

Temperatures in the neighboring prefectures of Saitama and Chiba also climbed to 39 and 36 degrees Celsius respectively.

Japan is in the midst of its worst heat wave in decades with temperatures touching record highs at the end of June.

The heatwave comes amid a decrease in power generation due to Japan’s dependence on fossil fuels, which have become more expensive and scarce as a result of the war in Ukraine. EFE

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