Oregon's suspected heat-related death toll rises to 7

At least seven people in Oregon are suspected to have died this week from heat-related issues amid a multiday-stretch of high temperatures which have scorched the region, authorities announced Saturday.

Oregon State Police reported that the seven deaths, preliminarily suspected to be from hyperthermia, occurred between July 25 and July 29. Four of the deaths occurred in the Portland metropolitan area, two in Marion County – which is located just south of Portland – and one in Eastern Oregon's Umatilla County.

Autopsies will be conducted to determine the exact causes of death, state police said. Heat-related deaths are tracked by the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office.