More than 24,000 people were transported to hospitals in July due to heat-related health problems, a record for the month, with 39 of them declared dead upon arrival, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday.
The Japan Weather Association, a private company, attributed the figure to higher temperatures than in average years, mainly on the Pacific side of the country, since the end of the rainy season.
The July figure, 24,567 hospitalized people, was the third largest for any month. The record-holder is August 2010 when 28,448 people were transported to hospitals, followed by August 2013 with 27,632 people.
The company began compiling the figures in 2008.
Of the 47 prefectures, Tokyo topped the list with 2,293 cases, followed by Saitama at 2,016 and Aichi at 1,524. Aichi saw eight people declared dead upon arrival, the most for any prefecture, followed by Iwate and Saga at three.
In terms of the number of people rushed to hospitals per population of 100,000, Gunma ranked at the top with 33.76 people, followed by Fukushima at 29.13 and Saitama at 28.02.