Mexico acknowledges 112 heat-related deaths so far this year, almost triple the figures in 2022
Mexico's health authorities have belatedly released a report showing a significant spike in heat-related fatalities in the last two weeks
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican health authorities say there have been at least 112 heat-related deaths so far this year, acknowledging for the first time the deadliness of a recent heatwave that the president previously dismissed as an invention of alarmist journalists.
The report, released late Wednesday, also shows a significant spike in heat-related fatalities in the last two weeks. So far this year, the overall heat-related deaths are almost triple the figures in 2022.
The Health Department normally issues a report on heat-related fatalities each week, but in June — at the height of the heat wave — it skipped a week, for reasons that remain unclear.
The deaths reached a peak in the week of June 18-24, with 69 deaths in one week nationwide, an unprecedented number. Temperatures in some parts of Mexico have risen to over 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in recent weeks.
