MONTREAL: A heatwave in Quebec has killed at least 19 people in the past week as high summer temperatures scorched eastern Canada, health officials said.

Twelve of the dead were reported in the eastern province’s capital Montreal, said regional public health director Mylene Drouin.

The Tribune newspaper said five of the deaths occurred in the past 48 hours in the Eastern Townships, a rural area just east of the city. And late on Wednesday two more deaths blamed on the heat were recorded in a Montreal suburb, Radio Canada reported.

“My thoughts are with the loved ones of those who have died in Quebec during this heat wave,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter.

“The record temperatures are expected to continue in central and eastern Canada, so make sure you know how to protect yourself and your family,” Trudeau said. Drouin said the victims were part of “the very vulnerable population, the elderly or people suffering from chronic or mental illnesses.”

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2018