AKITA, Japan - Six people have died in a group influenza infection at a hospital in Akita Prefecture, while more than 30 others, including inpatients and staff members at the medical facility, are being treated for infection, the prefectural government said Saturday.

Four men in their 60s to 90s and two women in their 70s and 80s, who tested positive in simple flu tests, died between Oct. 31 and Friday at the hospital in Kitaakita in northwestern Japan, the local government said.