A 38-year-old Taiwanese man froze to death as a heatwave swept the island after he walked into a refrigeration room to cool off and apparently suffered hypothermia.

Chen Sung-mou, a worker at a sugar factory on the offshore island of Penghu, was found unconscious inside the room on Sunday and was pronounced dead in hospital, police said.



He had apparently entered the room to seek refuge from the heat, police said.



But it appeared that hypothermia caused him to fall asleep, trapping him inside the room, even though the door was unlocked.



A heat wave has hit Taiwan in recent days, with temperatures reaching 37C in Taipei today.

Originally published as Man freezes to death in Taiwan heatwave