NNA -nbsp;Cities acrossnbsp;Chinanbsp;opened their air raid shelters to offer residents relief from the heat Friday as unusually high temperatures across parts of the country started claiming lives.
Northern China is experiencing strings of days with record-high temperatures, compounded by drought. Earlier this week, Beijing reported more than nine straight days with temperatures exceeding 35 C (95 F), according to the National Climate Center mdash; a streak unseen since 1961.
Cities including Hangzhou on Chinarsquo;s east coast, Wuhan in the center of the country, and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province neighboring Beijing over the past week announced opening their air raid shelters to residents seeking to escape the heat.
Authorities have issued health alerts and, in the capital and elsewhere, suspended outdoor work.
So far, two deaths in Beijing have been attributed to the scorching heat. Health authorities said a tour guide collapsed and died of heat stroke Sunday while giving a tour of the Summer Palace mdash; a vast, 18th century imperial garden. Last month, a woman in Beijing also died from a heat stroke. — The Associated Press
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