New Figures Show 7,659 More Died In Italy In Summer Heat




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New Figures Show 7,659 More Died In Italy In Summer Heat

Associated Press via Dow Jones Newswires
November 4, 2003

At least 7,659 more people - nearly all elderly - died during this past summer's scorching European heat wave compared with the same period last year, Italy said Tuesday as it sharply updated its figures on the death toll.

Figures released Sept. 11 had said 4,175 more people died, but that toll did not include the second half of August, one of the hottest periods of the summer.

The revised death toll still leaves Italy second after France , where the government reported 14,802 deaths.

The Italian Health Ministry had earlier said it expected the overall toll to reach 5,000 deaths. Officials said the toll was higher because there were an unexpectedly large number of deaths concentrated in southern Italy in late August.

The Health Ministry didn't blame the deaths entirely on the heat, but said the high temperatures were a key factor.

"It is clear that elderly people are more vulnerable to high temperatures since they are often on their on and often in a worse state of health," Susanna Conti, director of statistics for the ministry's Superior Health Institute, told The Associated Press.

She said people in Italy 's south are more used to high temperatures, but that persisting heat took its toll later in the summer. For weeks, temperatures reached into the 40s Celsius.

Both sets of figures were based on mortality rates from Italy 's 21 largest cities, which were expanded to a national estimate. The first set of figures covered deaths from July 16-Aug. 15, while the second set included the final two weeks of August.