RAWALPINDI, June 26: A duststorm brought some relief to the people of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Sunday evening, but along with the tragic news that the oppressive heat of the past 10 days had claimed at least 24 more lives in the area.
According to police, the heatwave drove two Rawalpindi boys to their death in the Rawal Lake where they had gone with friends for a cool dip.
Rawalpindi’s three major hospitals, which reported the 24 deaths, said that nearly 230 victims of heatstroke had been brought to their emergency departments on Sunday.
A doctor at the District Headquarters Hospital told Dawn that six of the heatstroke victims had died there while seven others were in serious condition.
Six people being taken to the Rawalpindi General Hospital arrived dead while the Holy Family Hospital said it had received more than 50 sunstroke cases, 12 of whom died of dehydration.
The Met office has predicted partly cloudy weather with chances of rain and duststorm for Monday.
