Snow-related accidents claim more lives in northern Japan
TOKYO —
Heavy snow continued to take its toll on Saturday with at least three more snow-related deaths reported in northern Japan. So far, 63 deaths due to snow-related accidents have been reported in Japan this winter, the land ministry said Saturday.
In Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, a woman found her 62-year-old husband lying on the ground in front of their house at about 8:30 a.m. She said he had gone up onto the roof to remove snow, NHK reported. He had fallen 4.5 meters, police said. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
In Kamo, Niigata Prefecture, an 87-year-old man was found dead on the roof of his house. Police say he apparently died of a heart attack while removing snow. In Kurobe, Toyama Prefecture, a 70-year-old man was ground lying in the garden of his home. He, too, had fallen off the roof, police said.
Meanwhile, in Aomori City, several traffic accidents were reported. Police blamed poor visibility at intersections for a number of car crashes. Local authorities said that snow removal operations haven’t been able to keep pace with the snowfall, NHK reported.
Snowstorms have battered coastal cities along the Sea of Japan and large parts of northern Japan since late last year. Some areas have received more than twice as much snow as normal.
Self-Defense Force troops have been dispatched to the worst-hit areas to help with relief operations.
However, many elderly residents, who live in isolated communities, are struggling to remove snow. The land ministry has asked local governments and community groups to organize volunteer groups to remove snow for the elderly people.
Japan Today/AP
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Elbuda Mexicano
This is crazy, I do not understand how Japanese folk think or forget to think, how can they let their old parents fend for themselves in these horrible conditions?? I can not even imagine leaving my mom in some terrible godforsaken place and say sure go on the roof obaachan and try and push that heavy snow by yourself, then gets a heart attack?? Or falls of the slippery roof and dies? This is just shameful!!
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Ivan Coughanoffalot
Two myths exploded in one short article.
Myth 1: The elderly are ipso facto wise. 87 years old, climb on your roof and start shovelling snow. Not an unavoidable tragedy.
Myth 2: As Elbuda says quite rightly above, why is nobody at best helping these venerable oldies or at the very least telling them not to be so stupid as to climb up on their roof in this weather? As always, pretend you can't see it and it doesn't exist.
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LH10
man, i wish van city had all that snow here! boy it would've been fun >0< RIP to the victims.
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