Heat-related death toll in NYC climbs to 20

[Robbien]

NEW YORK -- At least 20 people succumbed to the heat that scorched the city earlier in the week, according to the latest reports from the city medical examiner's office.

On Saturday, the medical examiner certified 10 deaths, including that of a 99-year-old woman, as being caused by the heat wave, in addition to 10 it had reported Friday. The toll could still rise as the medical examiner's office continues to conduct autopsies.

The more recent autopsy results were those of two Brooklyn residents and eight Queens residents. The six women and four men ranged in age from 52 to 99, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office. She did not release their names but said their deaths _ due to hyperthermia, or heat stroke _ occurred Friday.

. . .

Autopsy results are still pending for at least three other people in New York City whose deaths came during the heat wave: a man whose body was found Wednesday under a bridge in Brooklyn, and an 82-year-old woman and her 47-year-old son who also were found dead in the borough, officials said. The woman, Alice Dugger, died with her disabled son in an apartment above a Brooklyn grocery store. The landlord, Tony Moran, said Dugger was reluctant to run a fan because of the cost.

Several others who died also apparently were living with no air conditioning or poor ventilation, authorities said. Among them was Edna McEachin, 71, who was found dead in her government-subsidized apartment in Brooklyn. Neighbors told police they tried, but failed, to persuade her to leave her sweltering home.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--heatwave-nyc0805aug05,0,3616214.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[Blue_Tires]

1. very sad