Hundreds Die As Record-Breaking Heat Wave Grips Canada

Scores of deaths in Canada's Vancouver area are likely linked to a grueling heat wave, authorities said Tuesday.

The country recorded its highest ever temperature amid scorching conditions that extended to the US Pacific Northwest.

Canada set a new all-time high temperature record for a third day in a row, reaching 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.5 degrees Celsius) in Lytton, British Columbia, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) east of Vancouver, the country’s weather service, Environment Canada, reported.

At least 134 people have died suddenly since Friday in the Vancouver area, according to figures released by the city police department and the Royal Canadian Mounted police.

Officials said the number was expected to rise as more reports were filed.

The Vancouver Police Department alone stated that it had responded to more than 65 sudden deaths since Friday, with the vast majority “related to the heat.”

“Vancouver has never experienced heat like this, and sadly dozens of people are dying because of it,” police sergeant Steve Addison said.

Furthermore, other local municipalities have responded to many sudden death calls, but have yet to release tolls.

Some Vancouver locals affirmed that they had never experienced such temperatures before.

“It’s never this bad. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said a Vancouver resident who only gave her name as Rosa.

“I hope it never becomes like this ever again. This is too much.”

Others deplored that some residents were more vulnerable to the heat than others.

“I feel for those people whether they’re the elderly demographic or people who live on the downtown eastside of Vancouver who don’t have a cool spot to live or sleep,”  river swimmer Graham Griedger noted.