SANTIAGO, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Freezing temperatures have claimed the lives of at least three homeless people in Chile's capital Santiago and its metropolitan area, police reported on Monday.
"We received a report from people that passed by an area where they could see someone lying, covered by cardboard, and that presumably had no vital signs," Police Captain Marcelo Valenzuela said of the first case.
A 67-year-old victim was found in the eastern district of Penalolen, a commune in Santiago province, Santiago Metropolitan Region.
Police personnel dispatched to the site "verified the incident," said Valenzuela, adding that officials ruled out any criminal cause for the death.
"It was clearly caused by the low temperature we had this morning," he said.
A second similar incident was reported in Quinta Normal, in the west of the capital, where a 31-year-old man was found dead also at an outdoor plaza.
A third body was discovered later in the day in downtown Santiago, at an intersection on Avenida Alameda, the city's main thoroughfare.
Chile's meteorological agency said temperatures in Santiago hit a low of 1.6 degrees centigrade below zero, while they dipped to 2.2 degrees centigrade below zero in the west of the city, and plunged to 5.7 degrees below zero in areas close to mountains.
According to a 2017 census, there are 10,610 homeless people in Chile, 44 percent of whom are living in precarious conditions in Santiago.
Authorities have set up a series of shelters to house the homeless during coming cold spells.
