People reat at Wonhyo Valley in Gwangju to cool down, Aug. 5. Yonhap

Two women in their 70s have died due to extreme heat, raising the death toll from this year's heat wave to 14, the interior ministry said Tuesday.

On Sunday, a 71-year-old woman was found unconscious in her home in Seoul and subsequently died from a heat-related illness, while another 78-year-old woman died the same day while working on a farm in Goheung, 328 kilometers south of Seoul, the ministry said.

These deaths brought this year's heat wave death toll to 14 as of Sunday, while the number of patients with heat-related illnesses totaled 1,690.

From June 11 until Monday, 303,000 livestock died due to extreme heat, including 277,000 poultry.

On Tuesday, most parts of the country were under heat wave warnings. The weather agency has forecast that the heat wave may persist until at least Aug. 15. (Yonhap)