1 dead, 900 hurt in heavy Japan snowfall
2013-01-15 09:01
Tokyo - Heavy snow that blanketed eastern Japan over the holiday weekend
left one man dead and injured 900 others, as Tokyo commuters on Tuesday took to
the slippery streets.
A low-pressure system, dubbed a "bomb cyclone" by local press,
dumped 9cm of snow in nine hours, the heaviest snowfall in the region since
January 2006, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
It left 13cm of snow in neighbouring Yokohama, while mountainous areas
around Tokyo saw up to 30cm.
A 71-year-old man in Shiojiri city, Nagano prefecture, died after falling
into an open drain as he cleared snow around his house, a fire service spokesperson
said.
National broadcaster NHK said at least 891 injuries had been recorded in
Tokyo and the area around it, many of them elderly people who had slipped on
snow-covered streets or motorists involved in accidents.
Major train services resumed operations in Tokyo, although many sections of
road remained closed while crews cleared frozen snow.
All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines cancelled a combined total of 37
domestic flights while dozens of other flights experienced delays.
International operations were not severely affected by the snow, the
airlines said.
On Monday, Japanese airlines cancelled more than 460 domestic flights,
mainly to or from Tokyo's Haneda airport, where runways were temporarily closed
as workers removed snow.
