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Heat Wave Deaths Rise To 16 In Cook County

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 70-year-old Near Northwest Side man is the 16th Cook County resident whose death is at least partly related to the recent heat wave.

William Blackledge, 70, of the 1100 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, was pronounced dead at Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center at 9:27 p.m. Monday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

An autopsy Wednesday found that Blackledge died of heat stroke and hypertension, and his death was ruled an accident.

His death was the 17th this year attributable at least in part to heat, and the 16th since last Thursday, according to the medical examiner's office.

On Tuesday, autopsies found that three other men, an 83-year-old South Holland man, a 67-year-old Northwest Side man, and a West Rogers Park man in his 60s, also died at least in part from the heat.

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