Alwaght- At least 65 Japanese people have died in one week as "unprecedented" heatwave hit Japan has killed, government officials said Tuesday.
In the week to Sunday at least 65 people died of heat stroke while 22,647 people were hospitalized, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.
Both figures are "the worst-ever for any week during summer" since the agency began recording fatalities resulting from heat stroke in July 2008, an agency spokesman told AFP.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday that a total of 80 people have died from the heat since the beginning of July, and over 35,000 have been hospitalised.
Among those killed was a six-year-old school boy who lost consciousness on his way back from a field trip.
"As a record heatwave continues to blanket the country, urgent measures are required to protect the lives of schoolchildren," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters Tuesday.
"We are observing unprecedented levels of heat in some areas," weather agency official Motoaki Takekawa said late Monday.
The heatwave "is fatal, and we recognize it as a natural disaster," he told reporters.
The agency warned that much of the country will continue baking in temperatures of 35 degrees or higher until early August.
