MUMBAI: At least 375 people have died from sunstroke and dehydration in a month-long heat wave sweeping India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, as South Asia endures one of its hottest summers on record, authorities said.

Temperatures hit 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in some parts of South Asia this week, parching fields, emptying dams and drying river beds ahead of the annual monsoon.

Freak weather extended as far as northern China, where the heat set off explosives at a chemical plant in Shanxi province that injured hundreds. In central Chongqing city, authorities opened old bomb shelters so people can cool off.

Worst hit was India’s impoverished eastern state of Orissa, where almost 100 people were reported killed from the heat.

Streets in the region emptied and many cities and villages resembled ghost towns as residents stayed indoors to avoid the sun. The state ordered government offices to close before noon.

“The heat wave along with occasional power-cuts had made life miserable here,” said Lingaraj Panda, a local resident.

Officials reported drinking water shortages in the giant Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as ponds and lakes dried up and villagers were forced to travel 10 km to 15 km to fetch water from deep wells.

Beer sales in New Delhi hit a record high with nearly 6 million bottles being sold in the first three weeks of this month as temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit).

India’s weather department says the June-September rains got off to a weak start, but initial showers are now being reported across southern India and Mumbai.

The month-long heatwave also killed more than 100 people in Bangladesh.

Villagers in Bangladesh held prayers in mosques and temples for rain — though not too much rain. Last year, devastating floods caused by monsoon rains in July-September killed more than 1,000 people and left about 10 million homeless.

“The monsoon is playing truant this year in Bangladesh as well as in India, scorching farmland and killing people,” one weather official said.

Temperatures shot up to 44 degree Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in Islamabad on Tuesday — a four-year record.

At least 11 people have died in neighbouring Nepal, a local media report said, but monsoon rains had now begun in most parts of the country.—Reuters