More than 500 people died in six days due to severe heat wave in Pakistan
The normal life of South Pakistan including Karachi has been disrupted due to severe fire. Over 500 people have died in the country in the last six days due to severe heat wave and excessive load shedding. Among them, the bodies of about one and a half hundred people have been recovered in one day.
According to Pakistan’s Sindh Meteorological Office, the temperature in the surrounding areas including Karachi has been recorded at 41.3 degrees Celsius, with the perceived temperature around 50 degrees Celsius.
The Edhi Ambulance Service of the country said that the number of deaths has also increased with the rise in temperature. They are bringing about 30 to 40 dead bodies to Karachi city morgue every day.
Edhi sources said that they have brought around 568 dead bodies to the morgue in the last six days. Among them, 141 dead bodies were brought in on Tuesday alone. The Edhi Ambulance Service could not confirm whether the cause of death was heatstroke in each case.
According to a report in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, emergency services have recovered the bodies of around 30 people from the streets of the city in the last three days. Authorities could not confirm whether these were murders or victims of heatstroke.
Police surgeon Sumaiya Syed said that there is no sign of injury on their bodies. Many are suspected drug addicts. Hence case by case investigation is being done.
Meanwhile, residents of Karachi are suffering from load shedding amid high temperatures. As a result, their situation is getting worse. The elderly and the sick are more affected by heatstroke.
Hundreds of people are hospitalized every day with heatstroke. According to Civil Hospital Authority of Karachi, 267 people suffering from heat stroke have been admitted between last Sunday and Wednesday.
The head of the emergency department of the hospital Dr. Imran Sarwar Sheikh said twelve of them died. “Most of the people we saw coming to the hospital were in their 60s or 70s,” he said. Most are presenting with symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and high fever.
Dr. Imran said, many of those coming to the hospital were laborers or working outside. We told them to drink plenty of water and wear light clothes in this high temperature.
