Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 10 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture** said on the 10th that as of 9 a.m. that day, the death toll on the Noto Peninsula ** had increased to 203, and 68 people were still missing, including a baby.
People rest on the floor at a temporary shelter for more than 700 people in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, on January 3. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu Among them, Zhuzhou City reported the death of 6 evacuees the day before, which was the first "disaster-related death" in the disaster area. Another hard-hit area, Noto Town, was later confirmed to have died at an evacuation site.
In Japan, people who survive natural disasters such as floods and then die of illness or deterioration of their health while evacuating are called "disaster-related deaths." Noto Peninsula 1st occurred 7After Level 6**, the hardships of the evacuees in the disaster area have not been improved due to the slow restoration of water supply and power supply, the blockage of rescue, and snowfall.
This is a street view of Suzu City, a disaster area on the Noto Peninsula in Japan, taken on January 8. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the President of the Japan-China Friendship Association in Zhuzhou City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan) Hisa Kondo, a doctor who commanded a medical rescue team in the disaster area, said in an online interview with the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) TV on the evening of the 9th that many of the 131 temporary shelters in the hard-hit areas such as Wajima City, Zhuzhou City, and Nanao City were destroyed, with insufficient heating and exhausted staff, and it may be difficult to maintain operations.
Kondo said that because some of the shelter buildings are at risk of collapsing, people are huddled into small spaces waiting for support, many of them elderly, many of whom have been bedridden for years or suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
Ishikawa Prefecture has a high degree of aging. Taking Zhuzhou City as an example, the elderly over 65 years old account for 51 of the total population7%。On the one hand, this has increased the loss of people caused by secondary disasters, and on the other hand, it has led to a large number of houses with poor earthquake resistance due to lack of people and inability to repair.
People rest in a temporary shelter for more than 700 people in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, on January 3. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaoyu In recent days, a variety of cases of digestive and respiratory tract infections have been reported in the disaster area, including noro, new crown and influenza viruses. Kondo said that the lack of water, food and heating for the evacuees could further affect them from the pandemic. "If this continues, the worst-case scenario is that a large number of people will die in the evacuation facilities. ”
According to Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation (TBS), Ishikawa Prefecture has begun to move evacuees to "secondary evacuation centers" such as hotels and inns in non-disaster-stricken areas of the prefecture in order to make evacuation longer.
On the evening of the 9th, nine men and four women who had taken refuge at a junior high school in Wajima City boarded a bus and checked into a hotel in Kaga City. An elderly man said that the toilet used in the makeshift shelter was very troublesome and that he just wanted to get a good night's sleep now.
Ishikawa Prefecture still has 2 at the moment60,000 people have taken refuge, while more than 3,100 others are in need of assistance. **Ten days after the incident, there are still nearly 5 days after the disaster70,000 households without water, 1460,000 households were without power, and mobile phone signals in Wajima City, Zhuzhou City and other places have not been fully restored. (Hu Ruoyu).