PHILADELPHIA—The East Coast heat wave has claimed the lives of 17 people, and most of the victims were elderly.

The Philadelphia medical examiner’s office says eight people died of heat-related causes in the four days of scorching temperatures.

Six others died in New York City and two died in Maryland. A 65-year-old man also died of sunstroke in the Philadelphia suburb of Pottstown, Pa., while sunbathing.

The Philadelphia victims ranged in age from 65 to 95. Five of the six people who died in New York were over 70 and were found in their homes.

One of the two men who died Maryland collapsed after using a push lawnmower in the heat.

The region suffered through temperatures in the high 90s from Saturday through Tuesday.