The death toll from snow-related incidents since the start of the snow season in early December rose to 71 in 16 prefectures on Monday after three people were pronounced dead in Niigata, Fukui and Akita prefectures.
Local officials said that Shinichi Nakajima, 89, was found dead in a reservoir behind his home in Minami-uonuma, Niigata Prefecture, while Matsue Utsunomiya, 86, was found dead behind her house in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture.
Both lived alone.
In Hachiryu, Akita Prefecture, 51-year-old Toshiaki Akimoto died after falling some 6.5 meters to a concrete floor when the roof of a pigsty from which he was removing snow gave way.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.