TOKYO: A preliminary total of 261 people were taken to hospital for suspected heat stroke on Tuesday (July 21), according to the Tokyo Fire Department, as a heatwave persisted across the country, Kyodo News reported.
The figure reflected the daily total as of 9pm but was already the highest for a single day since comparable data became available in 2022, the fire department said on Wednesday.
The number of emergency dispatches also reached a record high on Tuesday, with a preliminary total of 3,454, the highest since figures were first compiled in 1963.
The number of people reporting symptoms of heat exhaustion, including fever and headaches, also began rising sharply last weekend due to higher temperatures, the department said.
Among the 261 heat stroke cases, people in their 80s accounted for the largest group at 55, followed by those in their 70s (53) and those in their 50s (27).
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the temperature rose to 36.4 degrees Celsius in central Tokyo on Tuesday.
The heat also apparently proved fatal on Tuesday, with an 84-year-old man in the eastern Japanese city of Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, dying of suspected heat stroke.
According to the local fire department, the man was found collapsed inside a plastic greenhouse at around 2.15pm on Tuesday by his son and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Wednesday marked the second consecutive day that temperatures reached 40 degrees Celcius or higher in parts of the country, as a high-pressure system continued to cover much of the Japanese archipelago.
The heat also affected sports, with a minor league baseball game scheduled to start at noon in Saitama, near Tokyo, called off due to the extreme heat.
The weather agency continued to urge the public to take precautions against heat-related illnesses. - Bernama-Kyodo
