Pakistan heatwave death toll rises above 600

State of emergency declared in hospitals after three days of scorching temperatures in southern city of Karachi

ISLAMABAD (AFP): The extreme heat wave in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi has claimed lives of nearly 622 people in the last three days, with government officials fearing more casualties as condition of many among hundreds of patients admitted into hospitals was said to be critical. 

Senior provincial health official Saeed Mangnejo told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he expected the number of fatalities to climb further. Mangnejo said the death toll covered the past three days and that most of the deaths were reported in the province’s largest city, Karachi.

Hundreds of patients suffering from the effects of the harsh weather were being treated at Karachi's government hospitals. A report submitted to Syed Qaim Ali Shah, chief minister of Sind province, by provincial health minister, Jam Mehtab Dahar, said that 622 people have died in Karachi. 

Temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) struck Karachi over the weekend. Hours-long power outages also hit the city, leaving fans and air conditioners inoperable. The deaths came as the country observes the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which eating and drinking are forbidden between sunrise and sunset.

Semi Jamali, a doctor at Karachi’s largest hospital, said they had treated about 3,000 patients. “More than 200 of them were either received dead or died in hospital,” said. Another 67 people died in the civil hospital, according to an official there.

Pakistan’s largest charity, Edhi Welfare Organisation, said their two morgues in the city had received more than 400 corpses. “More than 422 dead bodies have so far been received in our two mortuaries in past three days,” Edhi spokesman Anwar Kazmi told AFP. “The mortuaries have reached capacity.”

In Karachi, a city of 20 million people, electricity shortages have crippled the water supply system, the state-run water utility said. "We are closing offices, schools and colleges not just in Karachi but throughout Sind," Shah said and added that essential services at places like hospitals will remain open.

Tahir Ashrafi, a prominent Islamic cleric, urged those who were at risk of heatstroke to abstain from fasting. “We [religious scholars] have highlighted it on various television channels that those who are at risk, especially in Karachi where there is a very serious situation, should abstain from fasting,” he said.

Currently, Pakistan cities experience up to 12 hours of electricity load shedding while situation in rural parts of the country is even worse. Reeling under pressure, the prime minister had to announce that there would be no electricity cuts at times of breaking and starting of fast. 

Many of the victims were above the age of 40 and were from low-income families from the poorest localities of Lyari, Malir, Korangi and Karachi East. Majority of the victims were day labourers. Most of the deaths have occurred in parts of Karachi, where temperatures in recent days went as high as 45 degrees Celsius. 

The deaths come a month after neighbouring India suffered a deadly heatwave, with more than 2,000 deaths. Hundreds of mainly poor people die at the height of summer every year in India, but this year’s toll was the second highest in the country’s history.