11 children in Niigata City taken to the hospital with suspected heatstroke during walk to the field to harvest rice for school event

At around 11 AM on the 10th, 11 elementary school students in Niigata City were taken to the hospital on suspicion of heatstroke. At that time, 127 fifth-graders were walking from Ogata Elementary School in Higashi Ward of the city to a rice field about 800 meters away from the school to harvest rice for a rice-harvesting event. During the walk, one of the students started to show symptoms of heatstroke such as having a fever, and was then taken to the hospital. 

The event was consequently canceled and the other students returned back to school on foot. However, 10 more students began to feel unwell and were also taken to the hospital. It is believed that all of the students suffered from heatstroke but were expected to be able to return home by the end of the day as none were in life-threatening condition. 

On the 10th, a heatstroke alert was issued in Niigata Prefecture. Niigata City recorded a temperature of 33.9 degrees Celcius at 11 AM. The city is calling on kindergartens and schools to pay close attention to the health of their students and consider rescheduling events if temperatures rise. 

Source: NHK