At least 20 dead in Pakistan's Karachi due to heat wave

Karachi: Hit by the extremely hot weather, at least 20 people have died in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, during the last 48 hours and scores of others suffered heatstroke, authorities said on Tuesday.

Rescue officials said 10 more bodies had been found on the streets of Karachi and other places on Tuesday after 10 bodies were sent to the morgue on Monday, all suspected victims of the ongoing heat wave with the temperature soaring to more than 40 degrees Celsius.

Rescue services and health officials confirmed that the bodies bore no injury marks. “Most of the bodies are those of chronic drug users on footpaths or roadsides and they apparently died due to exposure to excessive heat in the city,” Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said.

She said the 20 dead bodies bore no injury marks and their appearances suggested that they were drug addicts whose bodies were spotted on footpaths or roadsides.

The meteorological department recorded the maximum temperature in the city on Monday at 42 degrees Celsius, up one notch from 41 degrees Celsius on Sunday, temperatures that are too high for coastal cities such as Karachi.

Dr Syed said besides the dead bodies, they were also getting many cases of heatstroke victims at the emergency departments of three government hospitals.

Meanwhile, Edhi Welfare Foundation officials claimed that their mortuaries in the city had also seen a hike in the number of bodies brought to their mortuaries during the last three days.

“Our three mortuaries have seen more than a three-fold increase in the number of bodies and since June 23 we have received at least 40 bodies at our mortuaries,” Faisal Edhi, the head of the Edhi Foundation said.

The meteorological office has forecast hot weather conditions over the next two days with temperatures expected to range between 38 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius.