Nearly 700 people have died in a severe three-day heatwave in Pakistan
A Pakistani resident helps a heatstroke victim in Karachi on Tuesday. (Photo: AFP)
Islamabad: Nearly 700 people have died in a severe three-day heatwave in Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday, with medics battling to treat patients as a state of emergency was declared in hospitals. Authorities have ordered closure of all educational institutions and government offices and the army has also been called in to deal with the situation.
The death toll in worst-hit Karachi, where temperatures hit 45°C was over 650. The majority of people died in government-run hospitals in the port city of Karachi, Pakistan’s economic hub of around 20 million people.
“The number of people who have died in the heatwave has now reached 692,” said Saeed Mangnejo, a senior provincial health official, adding that the toll may rise further. The deaths come a month after India suffered the second deadliest heat-wave in its history, with over 2,000 deaths.
Pakistan’s largest charity, Edhi Welfare Organisation, said their two morgues had received over 400 corpses. The deaths came as the overwhelmingly Muslim country of around 200 million people observes the Islamic holy month of Ramzan, during which eating and drinking is forbidden from sunrise to sunset. Some clerics have issued public warnings saying that physically weak people can abstain from fasting in these tough conditions.
( Source : deccan chronicle/agencies )
Next Story
