TOKYO (TR) – An elderly woman died and three others in the capital were hospitalized on New Year’s Day after choking on mochi rice cakes, authorities said, reports NHK (Jan. 2).
According to the Tokyo Fire Department, just after 1:00 a.m. on January 1, the family of the woman, aged in her 80s an living in Minato Ward, reported that she had choked on a mochi at home.
The woman was taken to the hospital but later died.
In addition, three men in their 80s and 90s each choked on daifuku mochi and were all taken to hospitals unconscious.
The Tokyo Fire Department is urging people, especially the elderly and children, to take extra care when eating mochi, which has a sticky consistency. They advise as cutting the mochi into small pieces and chewing it thoroughly.
