A 72-year-old man died after he fell off the roof of a shed in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, while he was clearing snow.
According to police, Kenzo Minamigawa was found lying in front of the shed beside his residence which is also a pub at around 11:45 a.m. Sunday, Sankei Shimbun reported. An employee of the pub found him and called 119. Minamigawa was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police said it appeared Minamigawa had used a ladder to climb up three meters to the roof of the shed to clear away snow and then fell. He was not wearing a helmet or life rope
© Japan Today
18 Comments
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sensei258
if there was so much snow on his roof that he was worried about clearing it off, shouldn't there have been enough snow on the ground to break his fall?
ClippetyClop
I'm surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen more often in winter.....
smithinjapan
RIP. You'd think with this happening EVERY year, as well as people falling off roofs during typhoons, the guy might not have done this and we might not hear about it again, but alas.
kolohe
I guess they assume it won't happen to them but only to others. RIP.
Mocheake
Don't they have public service announcements, posters, etc about stuff like this? Just about guaranteed to read about a few more before the spring thaw.
Disillusioned
Say what? It happens at least half a dozen times every winter.
TrevorPeace
I must say, and sadly, that I was waiting for a story like this.
Patricia Yarrow
Am I right there is never a story of an elderly WOMAN climbing the roof to shovel the snow to then fall to her demise? You know what I am saying.
Aly Rustom
My father in law is from Niigata and he says this sort of thing happens ALOT over there.
mmwkdw
First thing that's surprising is that a 72 year old man, manages to climb a 3 meter ladder. How many can do that in the West ? So, it's tragic, that he cut his life Short with a slip.
Scrote
Why do people build houses with flat roofs in snowy areas?
AramaTaihenNoYouDidnt
Why on earth is a senior citizen racking snow off at such height is beyond any reasoning. RIP elder brother.
Strangerland
There is no 'should' or 'shouldn't'. Snow falls and collects where it will. There is only 'was' or 'wasn't', and in this case, it was 'wasn't'.
Strangerland
What, do you think he was doing this as a hobby or something?
There's a reason this happens every year, and a reason why people keep doing it even though this happens every year.
Strangerland
Or maybe, they know it may happen to them, and yet still have to do it anyways.
Strangerland
It's not beyond reasoning. They either let the snow build up, collapsing the roof of their home, or they clear off the snow.