Houston, Feb 25 (IANS): Heat-related deaths in Texas last year hit a two-decade new high amid a sharp rise in migrant deaths and soaring temperatures enhanced by climate change, according to a media report.

At least 279 people in Texas were killed by heat in 2022, the highest annual toll for the state since at least 1999, Xinhua news agency quoted the Texas Tribune report based on the newspaper's analysis of state data.

Many of the dead were likely migrants who died after crossing the US-Mexico border, the report noted.

The US Border Patrol reported locating 853 bodies along the entire border in the 2022 fiscal year ending September 30, 2022.

The figure included deaths from heat, drowning and other causes.

Texas also saw its second-hottest summer on record during its worst drought in more than a decade, said the report, citing data provided by state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon.

The population in the second largest US state grew from just over 20 million in 1999 to around 30 million in 2022.