Heatwaves: 15 deaths in Japan and South Korea as temperatures soar

Twelve people have died from heat-related causes in South Korea as it swelters through a heatwave, while in Japan it emerged a 13-year-old girl had died from heatstroke on her way back from a school club.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that at least five of those who died over the weekend were farmers, and at least seven were over 70, including some in their 90s. Most of the country has been under a heatwave warning – issued when temperatures pass 35 degrees – since Tuesday. Over the previous week, three people are believed to have died from heat-related causes.

In Japan, a 13-year-old girl was found unconscious on a pavement on Friday. She had been cycling home after attending a school club and was taken to hospital where she later died from what authorities believe was heatstroke, the Mainichi reports.

The school had suspended the club gatherings an hour early due to concerns about the heat and said that students had taken breaks “every 20 to 25 minutes to rehydrate”, the Mainichi reported.

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Elsewhere, an elderly couple were found dead in their home in Tokyo by a healthcare worker, bringing the death toll since Friday to three. Police believe they died of heatstroke as temperatures in the city reached 35.7 degrees and their air conditioning was not on.

The deaths in Japan comes weeks after the government set a target to halve the number of heat-related deaths by 2030.

Statistics from the health ministry reported by the Japan Times show that the number of heatstroke-related deaths increased from an average of 201 people a year between 1995 and 1999, to an average of 1295 from 2018 to 2022. Between 80 and 90 per cent of those who die are over 65, according to data cited by the Japan Times.

Elsewhere, in China, fierce rain and flooding that have pummelled Beijing since the weekend have killed at least 11 people, triggering landslides and sweeping away cars on the city’s outskirts after authorities issued a red alert for what they warned was the heaviest deluge in years.

The intense rain prompted Beijing to close tourist attractions like the ancient Forbidden City. But the worst effects have been felt in the city’s outer districts, where downpours overwhelmed riverbeds that usually stay dry for much of the year.

On Tuesday, the Beijing government announced that, in addition to the 11 killed in the flooding – including two rescue workers – another 27 were missing, implying that the death toll could rise significantly.

Most of the fatalities were in the outer parts of Beijing, including Mentougou district, where video shared by local news outlets Monday showed cars being swept down a swollen river. Chinese television later showed footage of residents in the district walking through muddy streets strewn with cars that had been washed away.

The Beijing government said 13 of the missing were in Mentougou, and another 10 were in Changping, another semirural district. – Agencies