Heavy snowfall in Japan has killed 30 people, with troops deployed to clear massive drifts as residents in the north struggle to leave their homes.
TOKYO: Unusually heavy snow has killed at least 30 people in Japan over the past two weeks.
Officials confirmed the toll on Tuesday as the government deployed troops to help clear huge drifts.
A major weather system has dumped huge volumes of snow along the Sea of Japan coast in recent weeks.
Some central and northern areas of the main Honshu island saw more than twice the usual amounts.
Authorities recorded up to 4.5 metres of snowfall in parts of the worst-hit northern region of Aomori.
Many of the deaths took place there, including a 91-year-old woman whose body was found beneath a three-metre pile of snow outside her house.
Police believe snow from her rooftop fell on her.
A local police official told AFP the cause of her death was suffocation.
“As it gets warmer, the accumulated snow melts and falls,” the official said.
“Under the rooftop is a dangerous place.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
She instructed her ministers to do all they could to prevent further deaths.
Television images showed residents having to walk through trenches dug into the heavy snow.
Drivers struggled to avoid their vehicles getting stuck.
Many local schools were closed and public transport services were suspended in some areas.
Walls of snow as high as 1.8 metres in Aomori city prevented even government officials from reporting to work.
“The snow is so heavy around the regional government building that even our staff cannot convene, even if we were to call emergency meetings,” regional governor Soichiro Miyashita told a press conference.
Authorities were deploying trucks and heavy machinery to attempt to shift the snow.
Officials said they had not been able to keep up with the unending precipitation.
A resident of Aomori city told local broadcaster RAB that authorities must prioritise snow removal.
“They must block traffic from the morning and clear snow,” the unnamed man said.
“Otherwise, there is no solution to this.”
A local elderly woman thanked troops on Monday after they cleared snow from her home in Aomori city.
“If they hadn’t come, my house would have collapsed either today or tomorrow,” she told local broadcaster ATV.
