Hungarian heat wave death toll rising

UPI: About 500 people may have died across Hungary from heat-related health problems in the past eight days, health officials estimate.

Anna Paldy, deputy director of the National Institute of Environmental Health, said the deaths were due to heatstrokes, cardiovascular problems and similar illnesses worsened by high temperatures topping 104 degrees Fahrenheit, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Paldy said the death toll estimate was determined by researchers who took reports from hospitals and doctors in the Budapest metropolitan area and then worked out approximate calculations for the whole of Hungary.

She said the death rate caused by heat was the highest in Hungary in recent years, the BBC said.