10 die of heatstroke in Shanghai

SHANGHAI - Over ten people in Shanghai have died of heatstroke in the east China city's unprecedented summer heat, local health officials said Tuesday.

The Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control & Prevention said the persisting high temperatures this summer have caused a spike in the number of heliosis patients in the city. But center officials declined to disclose the specific number of deaths.

Temperatures in Shanghai surpassed 39 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the 8th straight day for temperatures to rise above 38 degrees Celsius, the Shanghai Meteorological Center said.

A man covers his head with a wet towel to cool off his body in Baoding city, Hebei province on July 28. [Photo/Xinhua]

The center said that with 24 days of temperatures at or above 35 degrees Celsius monitored so far, this July has been the hottest for the financial and business center since weather records started 140 years ago.

In an eye-catching demonstration of the hot weather, a reporter from a Shanghai TV station successfully barbecued pork slices on outdoor marble in just ten minutes.

The disease control and prevention center said over 30 percent of the patients who died were hit by summer heat when they were indoors.

A doctor from Shanghai Minhang District Center Hospital said three elderly patients have died of sunstroke at his hospital, while two others were in life-threatening condition.

The doctor surnamed Zheng advised all elderly citizens not to avoid using air conditioning, referring to widely held belief among elderly Chinese that air conditioning is unhealthy or a waste of money.

Heat waves continued to scorch many parts of China on Tuesday, triggering level two emergency response to heat from the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

The emergency response covers provinces including east China's Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, central China's Hunan and Hubei, south China's Fujian, and Shanghai and Chongqing municipalities.