Spain heatwave death toll rises to nine

MADRID: Spain´s death toll from a particularly virulent heatwave rose to nine in just one week, authorities said Tuesday, as the country suffers sky-high temperatures.

A 66-year-old man who died on Thursday in the southwestern region of Extremadura near Portugal was found to have died of heat stroke, a spokesman for the regional health department told AFP. A 75-year-old woman who died two days later also succumbed to heat stroke, he added. This brings to nine the number of people to have died as a direct consequence of the heatwave.

A 40-year-old German man who was on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage also died from heat stroke in Extremadura, as did an 81-year-old man. Parts of the region registered temperatures of up to 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) at the weekend.