Sindh heatwave death toll climbs to 830
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KARACHI: At least 830 people have perished in Sindh since Saturday as the province languishes in the grips of a searing heatwave.
The total death toll at Karachi's Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre has risen to 295 since Saturday. The combined death toll at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and other Karachi Municipal Corporation-run hospitals has peaked at 140. Civil Hospital Karachi has seen 110 dead, while 58 have perished at Liaquat National Hospital.
The Emergency Cardiac Centre in Shah Faisal Colony has seen at least five deaths since Saturday, and Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad and New Karachi have seen 10 and 23 dead respectively.
Take a look: Relentless heatwave takes another 337 lives
On Sunday, at least 136 deaths were reported, while on Monday 309 were reported dead. On Tuesday, 311 were reported dead in Karachi while 26 died in other parts of Sindh.
Temperatures in Karachi are expected to peak at 36 degrees Celsius on Wednesday as a relatively cool sea breeze started blowing on Tuesday evening.
The weather outlook for Sindh according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department is hot and humid in most parts of the province, while rain is expected in various parts of Mirpurkhas division and isolated areas in Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad and Karachi.
Winds have shifted to the southwest, blowing cooler air into the port city from the Arabian Sea, and the Pakistani Met Office has predicted rain, which would bring lower temperatures.
The government has demanded urgent action to deal with the crisis, and the administration in Sindh province declared Wednesday a public holiday to encourage people to stay indoors out of the sun.
Some residents on Tuesday took to hosing each other down with water to avoid collapsing from heat stroke.
A state of emergency is in force in hospitals which are struggling to cope with the 3,000 people affected by heatstroke and dehydration.
The change in weather will come as welcome relief for the economic hub, where maximum temperatures have hovered around 44-45 degrees Celsius since Saturday.
The National Disaster Management Authority has been setting up dedicated heatstroke treatment centres to try to cope with the volume of patients.
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On DawnNews
Comments (26) Closed
Jun 24, 2015 02:04pm
This is normal temperature for us, we freaked out when it was 47°c+. All is well.
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Jun 24, 2015 02:12pm
Nature reducing excess flab.
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Jun 24, 2015 02:13pm
@Vaibhav The "feel like" temperature is above 52 degrees C as per CNN due to the combined effect of heat and humidity. All is not really that well for the people without air conditioners!
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Jun 24, 2015 02:13pm
@Vaibhav It was different. Temperature was 43 to 45 but its feel like was around 50 degree C for elders. There was no wind and extreme humidity which caused so many deaths.
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Jun 24, 2015 02:20pm
When the temperature was at 47-49 C in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and it caused over 1000 people to die then many in Pak was boasting that similar temperatures are there is Pak but no one is dying. Now I see with lesser temperature a similar number of people dying, I feel sad but want to say to those idiots stop making a competition on dead bodies. Rather than focus energies on this rather focus energies on the home govt. Pak has a production capacity of 22GW and the most peak requirement was 21 GW. It is not a capacity issue in Pak but rather the issue of money or circular debt. Force your politicians to take money from the people who don't pay bills as well as ask them to make more dams. If Pak was smart then in the CPEC instead of 20B$ on thermal power plants which still would add to capacity but will be expensive electricity, it should have been dams. But I guess the energies of population are easily manipulated.
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Jun 24, 2015 02:50pm
@Vaibhav
All is not well when 830 people die.
Please have some compassion and respect for a human life!
I will ask you about how you feel if you lose your close family member and someone says to you "All is well." !!!
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Jun 24, 2015 03:00pm
Down the road this has to researched, which segment of population is verneable in this hot days, and who usually suffers heat strokes.It seems silly to ask now but if we check this out and plan for future , these unfortunate deaths could be avoided.
Some plan has to be in place for this emergency situation.
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Jun 24, 2015 03:25pm
I do not recall that the Prime Minister of Punjab came out for the people of Sindh in this crisis time. They immediately come to Karachi and Sindh to Capture it by using forces from Punjab
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Jun 24, 2015 03:28pm
I am not sure how K-Electric is responsible? Labour working in baking sun with huge amount of humidity is the cause of so much deaths. If Load shedding is the reason then urban areas with 10-15 hours loadshedding and 50 Degree temperature, there will be 200-300 casualities every day. Currently there is serious politiics and blame game going on, so PPP can save themselves from ultimate Operations and Governor rule in Sindh.
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Jun 24, 2015 03:30pm
@Jashan: Jashan, and yet you still didn't miss the occasion for point-scoring, so you're equally pathetic. As for the widespread deaths, its the month of Ramadan, and most people were observing fast which require abstaining from drinking water and food from sunrise to sunset, meaning a 16-hours fast these days. Most people died due to dehydration.
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Jun 24, 2015 04:06pm
Surprised no one brings up climate change to which Pakistan is most vulnerable, everything from drought to flooding to this heat wave. Clearly there's a lack of awareness among the public and government.
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Jun 24, 2015 04:35pm
@Vaibhav 44°c or 45°c is not an issue but lack of electricity and water makes it worse along with fast it just escalate the problem most and the actual feel is around 50°c due to humidity of coastal region
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Jun 24, 2015 04:36pm
This is bad news
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Jun 24, 2015 04:40pm
Heat stroke avoidance tips:
1. One should bathe in lukewarm water rather than cold water.
2. One should use a fan towards the face.
3. One should dip their hands in cold water frequently.
4. One should use cold compresses on the upper back between the shoulder blades.
4. Avoid extraneous exercise.
5. Sip SLOWLY plenty of fluids especially coconut water or pure lemonade (no carbonates).
6. Abstain from fasting if you experience extreme tiredness and feel lightheaded.
Even though here in the UK fasting is for 19 hours and the weather is currently warm for us, I have had to stop fasting due to dehydration which has caused me a recurrence of kidney stones.
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Jun 24, 2015 04:40pm
It is so sad news that many precious lives have lost.
Our leaders, slogans a lot, but failed to provide the basic rights to citizen of Pakistan.
I hope one day the long fasting of the deprived people of Pakistan, will come to end.
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Jun 24, 2015 04:50pm
The severe heat wave combined with electricity outages , and water shortages has aggravated the already precarious situation of Karachi city. Yesterday aamir Liquat Hussain alongwith his team of sensitive people camped outside the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center to provide the much relief to the victims and their families.
The people from far and wide thronged the area with food provisions, water bottles, soda and Other soft drinks , and more than 8 lacs of rupees in cash.
We suffer in the suffering of our brothers , and sisters. The government is not visible anywhere in the broader picture. Let the philanthropists take over to assist the suffering humanity..
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Jun 24, 2015 05:04pm
We desperately need "trees", lots and lots of trees. Afforestation is the answer to Karachi and other areas' heating up problems. More trees, more rains, more oxygen, less carbon dioxide, less temperature. Public is already aware of government policy of helping so help yourself. We can not rely on anybody when the question is about our own survival.
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Jun 24, 2015 05:10pm
Most of the deaths are probably avoidable.
Like fire drills and evacuation,these extreme weather conditions should be PREPARED for beforehand?
The very elderly and the very young are specially prone to these heat / sun strokes.
Plenty of fluids with the RIGHT BALANCE of electrolytes is the key to surviving these debilitating weather conditions.Someone here has mentioned coconut water as the substitute and he is quite right..
If such a heat wave is anticipated,the public should be warned and EDUCATED over the TV radio and mass media.
This is an exercise in public health and,I hope in the future Pakistan is well prepared for it?
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Jun 24, 2015 06:05pm
Similar incident in India and we were mocking about their economy and chest thumping from us. there were analysis about how cool breeze from europe will keep us cool. Now, within a month death toll reported here. If only we have taken a lesson from India when mishap happens and prepared ourselves. But no, we were busy taking a dig at other in their misfortune. RIP souls
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Jun 24, 2015 07:15pm
Is their any possibility we can make this unfortunate loss of lives an academic research platform to identify all the actual causes of these deaths/age /income group/awareness of health problems/past visit to doctors. The government must announce compensation to the bereaved families and necessary data to be collected for awareness and precautionary measures for public. Since the temperature is going to further rise in coming years this excercise is recommended. The other long term solution is greenery, tree plantation and artifical rain.
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Jun 24, 2015 07:19pm
@Mustafa Crazy Urbanization, cutting off trees, removing of Green belts and polluting water canals with industrial waste which could however helped to enrich the green areas are main causes of deplorable situation in the city.
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Jun 24, 2015 07:56pm
@Vaibhav Mr. Vaibhav temperatures may be normal to you because you have basic necessities of life including roof above your head and water in your body, these poor who lost their lives have none of the above, so show some respect and sympathy to those who lost their loved ones. No one wants your pathetic opinion that "All is Well". Imagine seeing your whole area of 800+ people laying dead in front of you, would still utter these words .
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Jun 24, 2015 08:38pm
its unfortunate that these poor people will have to suffer like this in future as well cos they have to work in this scorching heat to make meal ends whatsoever.... but some awareness by government through helth worker or tv and radio broadcast can make huse difference....
some pak people were making fun of india when same was happening here...its unfortunate
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Jun 24, 2015 09:22pm
What is provencial government doing and where is federal government? Shame on qomi leaders. Do they know what are the peoples needs in this difficult times? I am sure they will answer one day.
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Jun 25, 2015 03:54am
Don't cut the trees people! I am from Karachi and these days there are many areas in Karachi where you will hardly find a tree. The concrete and iron in the building material has made the city even warmer. People of Karachi, instead of having houses with all covered area, please leave some space for a lawn with a tree in it.
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Jun 25, 2015 03:56am
Not much mention about heat wave in Sindh.only in Karachi. Children of Lesser gods. Growing in Lahore temperature of 112 and more was routine . As a house officer in Mayo we will routine empty out a few beds for Heat stroke victims. What changed in last few decades ? Blame game in full swing. But look unto yourselves. Did you do enough for your Neichbors ?
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