Japan quake: Elderly woman with apparent heat stroke found dead while taking shelter in car
This latest death was what officials and experts had worried about amid high temperatures.
An elderly Japanese woman, in her 70s, succumbed to heat stroke while seeking refuge in her car during a powerful earthquake that struck Japan's Kumamoto prefecture. This unfortunate incident marked the latest fatality from the disaster, raising concerns about heat-related illnesses among those taking shelter in their vehicles. Kumamoto officials raised the death toll from the quake to 36 as temperatures soared, with the Japan Meteorological Agency reporting extreme heat levels of 36.6°C in Kumamoto city.
The prefecture's main challenge is the lack of fresh water, affecting nearly 47,000 homes, and fuel shortages due to sweltering heat stoking fears of heat-related illnesses. Authorities urged evacuees to refuel their vehicles to run air-conditioning or consider moving to air-conditioned evacuation centers to avoid similar risks.
Written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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