Four more die from heatstroke as hot, humid weather persists in Karachi – Pakistan

• Number of bodies recovered over past four days rises to 35 as six more corpses found
• Commissioner confirms 10 heat-related deaths on Monday and Tuesday
• Health dept says only eight people died from heatstroke in a month

KARACHI: Four persons died from heatstroke in the city on Wednesday as hot and humid weather conditions persisted and the temperature crossed 40 degrees Celsius for the fourth day in a row, officials said.

Also on Wednesday, bodies of six more persons were recovered from different parts of the metropolis, bringing the total number of such corpses to 35 over the past four days.

The Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) decla­red four deaths from heatstroke.

Dr Imran Sarwar G. Sheikh, the doctor in charge of the emergency department at the CHK, told Dawn that one critically-ill heatstroke patient, who was in his 40s and brought from North Karachi, died during treatment.

“Three male patients were declared dead on arrival. They appeared to be labourers in their 50s and 60s and had clear clinical signs suggesting that they suffered from heatstroke,” he said.

A total of 63 patients either reported heatstroke or heat-related illnesses on Wednesday, Dr Sheikh added.

The 24-hour data of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre showed that 37 heatstroke pati­ents including 12 women were treated at the hospital. The same day, 13 heatstroke patients reported at the Indus Hospital.

Meanwhile, police and rescue services found six more bodies in different parts of the metropolis on Wednesday.

The Brigade police said that the body of an unidentified man was recovered in Lines Area. The corpse was shifted to the JPMC.

Rescue services said that they found five bodies in different areas on Wednesday.

Conflicting figures

Meanwhile, the Sindh health department confirmed eight heat-related deaths in Karachi dur­ing one month. It said most of them were drug addicts or homeless.

However, Karachi Commis­sioner Hasan Naqvi said that a total of 10 people died because of heatstroke on Monday and Tuesday.

Briefing the media at his office, he said that eight people had died on Monday and two on Tuesday due to heatwave.

The commissioner said that 147 people with heatstroke were admitted to different hospitals on Tuesday and all of them, except for two, were discharged after recovery.

He said that the rate of deaths in the city had increased slightly from normal.

The commissioner said that he had asked the K-Electric to avoid loadshedding during the heatwave as it was usually only for two or three days. “We will also request the power utility to avoid loadshedding during night hours in the city,” he added.

Feels-like temperature reaches 50°C

Hot and humid conditions persisted in the city that saw a slight drop in temperature and a dust storm in the evening.

According to a Met department official, “Passing thunder cells from Hub and northern region” brought about the dust storm in different parts of Karachi.

The Met office said that the maximum temperature in the city was 40°C with 53 per cent relative humidity.

The heat index — the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature — calculated around 2pm with 39°C temperature and 48pc relative humidity was 48-50°C.

The Met Office said Karachi is likely to remain hot and humid on Thursday (today) with maximum temperature ranging between 36-38°C. There are chances of isolated dust-thunderstorm/light rain over the city’s outskirts on Friday (tomorrow).

“Dust storm/light rain is expected in Jamshoro, Thatta, Badin, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Tharparkar on Thursday [today],” it added.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024