Five more people who died after July's Kumamoto earthquake were certified as disaster-related deaths, bringing the total to 6 and the overall death toll to 43, months after the quake struck.
The certifications were made on Tuesday, according to NHK. Disaster-related deaths (saigai kanrenshi) are fatalities caused not by the shaking itself but by the strain of life after a disaster, such as illness or exhaustion during evacuation.
The count includes those killed directly by the quake and those who died afterward. The figure now stands at 43.
Elderly woman in Yatsushiro
Among those newly recognized was a woman in her 90s in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, the first such certification linked to the July quake. Her case was reported on Monday.
The gap between a disaster and certification leaves bereaved families waiting on a decision that can take months. The quake hit in July, and the first disaster-related death was confirmed only this week.