KARACHI:
Nearly 700 people have been killed in Karachi due to Pakistan’s worst heatwave in decades as the Government today shut down all educational institutions and its offices and roped in the army to deal with the crisis.
The heatwave, sweeping across Sindh province, has been going on since the start of Ramzan on Friday, wreaking havoc and triggering an emergency situation in major hospitals of the province.
The death toll in worst-hit Karachi has topped 692 with another eight to 10 people dead in other parts of southern Sindh as a result of soaring temperatures, a senior health official was quoted as saying by media reports.
Three major state-owned hospitals confirmed a combined death toll of 341 until yesterday. Hospitals reported deaths due to heat stroke, exhaustion and low blood pressure.
Temperatures of 44 to 45 degrees Celsius have been recorded in Karachi since Friday with the scorching heat continuing till today although the met office has forecast a break in the heatwave by this evening.
“We had until yesterday evening nearly 200 deaths from this heatwave,” said Seemi Jamali, medical superintendent at Jinnah Hospital.
“These 200 include dead bodies we have got from the scorching heatwave and those who passed away in the hospital while under treatment for heatstroke and dehydration,” she said. (AGENCIES)
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