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Deadly heat wave grips Japan as record high kills at least 40

A man wipes the sweat from his face in the scorching heat at a business district in Tokyo, Monday, July 23, 2018. (Koji Sasahara/AP)
In this July 20, 2018, photo, people make their way in scorching heat near Tokyo station in Tokyo. Searing hot temperatures are forecast for wide swaths of Japan and South Korea in a long-running heat wave. The mercury is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, July 23, 2018, in the city of Nagoya in central Japan and reach 37 in Tokyo. Deaths have been reported almost every day. (Jun Hirata/Kyodo News via AP)
In this July 18, 2018, photo, people watch the thermometer which reads 41.2 degree Celsius (106.16 degree Fahrenheit) near Tajimi station, Gifu prefecture, central Japan. Searing hot temperatures are forecast for wide swaths of Japan and South Korea in a long-running heat wave. The mercury is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, July 23, 2018, in the city of Nagoya in central Japan and reach 37 in Tokyo. Deaths have been reported almost every day. (Yoshiaki Sakamoto/Kyodo News via AP)
Thermometer reads 40.3 degree Celsius (104.54 degree Fahrenheit) in Kumagaya city, north of Tokyo, Monday, July 23, 2018. Searing hot temperatures are forecast for wide swaths of Japan and South Korea in a long-running heat wave. The mercury is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, in the city of Nagoya in central Japan and reach 37 in Tokyo. Deaths have been reported almost every day. (Kyodo News via AP)
A man wipes the sweat from his face in the scorching heat at a business district in Tokyo, Monday, July 23, 2018. Searing hot temperatures are forecast for wide swaths of Japan and South Korea in a long-running heat wave. The mercury is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday in the city of Nagoya in central Japan and reach 37 in Tokyo. Deaths have been reported almost every day. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
People cool down under the cooling mist spot in Tokyo, Monday, July 13, 2018. Searing hot temperatures are forecast for wide swaths of Japan and South Korea in a long-running heat wave. The mercury is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday in the city of Nagoya in central Japan and reach 37 (99 F) in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
A man wipes the sweat from his face in the scorching heat at a business district in Tokyo, Monday, July 23, 2018. Searing hot temperatures are forecast for wide swaths of Japan and South Korea in a long-running heat wave. The mercury is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday in the city of Nagoya in central Japan and reach 37 in Tokyo. Deaths have been reported almost every day. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
A woman holds a portable fan at a business district in Tokyo, Monday, July 23, 2018. Searing hot temperatures are forecast for wide swaths of Japan and South Korea in a long-running heat wave. The mercury is expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday in the city of Nagoya in central Japan and reach 37 in Tokyo. Deaths have been reported almost every day. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
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The Associated Press
July 23, 2018 - 1:36 am
 

TOKYO — The temperature in a city north of Tokyo reached 41.1 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, the highest ever recorded in Japan, as a deadly heat wave gripped a wide swath of the country and nearby South Korea.

The record was set in Kumagaya, a city in Saitama prefecture that is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

A lingering high pressure system has brought record-high temperatures to the region for more than a week, killing more than 40 people in Japan and 10 in South Korea.

Thousands of people in Japan have been rushed to hospitals with heat stroke symptoms in the more than weeklong heat wave. Kyodo News agency has tallied more than 40 deaths in Japan. Many of the victims have been elderly people who were not using air conditioning.

In South Korea, 10 people have died of heatstroke and other heat-related causes this summer. Seven of them died last week, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. About 1,040 people have fallen ill because of the heat from May 20 to July 21, an increase of 61 percent over the same period of last year, it said.

South Korea’s highest-ever morning low was recorded in the city of Gangneung, where the temperature was 31 Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) at 6:45 a.m. The morning low in Seoul was 29.2 degrees, the highest-ever in the country’s capital, according to South Korea’s weather agency.

The mercury hit 39.9 degree Celsius (103.8 F) in the southeastern town of Hayang, the highest recorded in the country so far this year.

Authorities in Japan warned people to stay inside and use air conditioning.

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