TOKYO - A 65-YEAR-OLD man died of heart failure in Japan after seven hospitals refused to admit him, officials were quoted as saying on Friday in the latest case of emergency wards turning down patients.

An ambulance rushed the man across the city of Hyuga, Miyazaki prefecture, southwestern Japan, on April 4, trying to get a hospital to accept him after he suffered a heart attack while driving a car.

But seven hospitals refused to admit him, saying 'they were busy treating other patients or they didn't have enough doctors,' said Iwao Matsuki, a fire department official, after local media reported the case for the first time.

The man was finally admitted to a hospital about an hour and half after suffering his heart attack, but was declared dead shortly after admission, the official said.

Japan has universal health care but faces an acute shortage of emergency-care doctors, a job marked by gruelling hours and comparatively low pay.

In February, a 69-year-old Japanese cyclist died of serious injuries suffered in a road accident after 14 hospitals refused to admit him, citing a lack of doctors or medical equipment. -- AFP