MONTEVIDEO – A man died from hypothermia in the northern Uruguayan province of Salto, raising the death toll from the cold wave gripping the South American country to three, the press reported Wednesday.

The man, who had mental problems, was taken Saturday to the regional hospital for treatment of exposure, the Cambio de Salto newspaper said.

He died from hypothermia the next morning, but the death was not made public until Wednesday.

A man died last Thursday in the eastern province of Rocha and another man died Sunday in the central province of Durazno.

The cold wave affecting Uruguay has sent temperatures plunging below freezing.

The cold wave stretches from southern Argentina and Chile to Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Peru and Brazil’s Amazon region, and it is associated with a rare high-pressure system that stalled over Argentina’s Buenos Aires province and Uruguay.

Temperatures are forecast to rise on Wednesday, the weather service said. EFE