(ECNS) -- A retired associate professor and his wife were found dead at least one day after they passed away from heat stroke at their home in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing.
The 75-year-old man taught optics at a university before retirement and his wife, 68, used to work at a photography studio. The couple died in early August when the city in Jiangsu Province was hit by high temperatures.
Neighbors said the couple lived frugally and had no air conditioners installed in their home.
Their only son, who works in Shanghai and often phoned home, said his parents refused to have air conditioners and chose to stay in Nanjing because they were not used to life with him in the bigger city.
"I never thought they would leave me in such a way," the son said.
Nanjing has more than 1.3 million people 60 years old or above, accounting for 20 percent of the total population. Over 230,000 elderly people live either alone or only with their spouses.
