Mexican health aut๊horities say there have been at least 112 heat-related deaths so far this year, acknowledging the deadliness of a recent heatwave that the president previo🦋usly said was being overblown by alarmist journalists.
The report, releas🐷ed late Wednesday, also shows a significant spike in heat-related fatalitiesℱ 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 💃he🅘at 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 numbeܫr. Temperatures in some parts of Mexico have risen to over 105 deไgrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in recent weeks.
The w🀅eek of June 11-17 was also unusually bad, with 31 deaths across the countrܫy.
So far this year, the largest number🎀 of deaths from heatstroke and dehydration have occurred in the northern border state of Nuev❀o Leon, home to the industrial hub of Monterrey.
President 🌱Andꦑrés Manuel López Obrador claimed last week that mounting reports of heat deaths were untrue, and were part of a media campaign against his administration.
“There is an alarmist, ye𒁏llow-journalism trend,” López Obrador said, citing lower death figures that were already outdated at that time.
The high number of heat-related deaths appeared to be due in part not onlℱy to high temperatures, ❀but to a delay in the onset of seasonal rains that normally come to Mexico in mid-June and tend to cool things off a bit.
The Health Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the delay in its delay in reportingꦬ the fatalities.
Nor was it clear why the president thought the deaths were a poℱlitical issue, possibly because several media outlets reported claims that some of the deaths were caused by electr🦩icity shutoffs at some of the victims' homes.
López Obrado🦋r is a staunch defender of the state-owned power utility.
