'52-Degree Killer Heat' 60-Year-Old American Man Dies While Driving Car with Broken Air Conditioner

Found Dead in US Desert Area 'Death Valley'
Two Tires Punctured, "Death Presumed Heat-Related"

A man in his 60s was found dead in the desert area of Death Valley in the United States. Death Valley is a region where daytime temperatures soar up to 52 degrees Celsius, and local police reported that the man likely died from a heat-related illness.

According to the U.S. National Park Service on the 7th (local time), a park ranger discovered the man deceased inside a car around 10 a.m. on the 3rd. The location where he was found was about 27 meters away from the North Highway road within Death Valley National Park in California.

Travelers in Death Valley National Park, California, USA (July 2021)
Photo by AFP Yonhap News

The park ranger noticed a sedan parked off the road and found the man collapsed inside the vehicle, then contacted the park patrol.

The responding sheriff and medical examiner confirmed the man's death. The deceased was identified as a 65-year-old man residing in San Diego.

Tire tracks from the vehicle led from the paved road to a sandy embankment mixed with rocks beside the shoulder, and two tires were found flat. Additionally, the car's air conditioning was reported to be broken. At the time of discovery, the driver's side window was rolled down.

Initial investigations suggest that the man suffered from a heat-related illness in extreme heat, lost control of the vehicle, and veered off the road. The park service stated that the daytime temperature there reached 52.2 degrees Celsius (126 degrees Fahrenheit) the previous day, and the overnight low remained high at 36.7 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit).

Death Valley holds the Guinness World Record for the highest temperature on Earth, recording 56.6 degrees Celsius in 1913. In August 2020, it recorded the second highest temperature of 54.4 degrees Celsius. The road surface often becomes so hot that tires of vehicles driving through frequently go flat, causing accidents in Death Valley.

In the southwestern United States, severe heatwaves worse than usual have led to multiple deaths among travelers in rugged national parks featuring mountains, valleys, and desert terrain. On the 23rd of last month, a 14-year-old boy and his 31-year-old father died while hiking together in Big Bend National Park, Texas, and on the 2nd, a 57-year-old woman died while hiking alone in Grand Canyon National Park.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.