Japan: A hot episode makes at least 15 dead

The country has been experiencing an intense heat wave since the beginning of July. In some cities, mercury flirts with 40 degrees.
  

The heatwave killed at least 15 people in Japan during the first two weeks of July while 12,000 people were hospitalized, according to official figures released Sunday when the thermometer was near 40 degrees Celsius in many cities.

Twelve people died in the week ended July 15, for more than 9,900 hospitalizations, three people died the previous week, for 2,700 hospitalizations, according to the disaster management agency. And the time was not for refreshment.

More than 37 degrees in Tokyo

The weather agency has announced that temperatures exceeded Sunday afternoon 35 degrees in 233 points of the archipelago. In Gugo, in central Japan, it was 39.8 degrees and in several parts of Tokyo, the thermometer exceeded 37 degrees.

The agency has issued a hot weather alert for most areas of the main island of the archipelago. "The risk of heat stroke is particularly high," she said, calling people to drink a lot and use air conditioning.

The Ministry of Education has asked schools to give up outdoor activities during hot weather. A six-year-old boy died last week of heat stroke during a school trip.