Six more infants died in drought-hit Thar on Tuesday, bringing the death toll during the last 72 hours to 13, officials told Dawn.

According to doctors at the Mithi Civil Hospital, outbreak of water-borne diseases, malnutrition and other health complications were behind the recent wave of mortalities.

Some of the grieving parents, while talking to local journalists, held malnutrition and contaminated water responsible for the deaths in the desert region.

The deaths reported in the past three days, health officials said, have led the death toll for the current year to cross the 600-mark — a four-year high.

According to the provincial health secretary, 450 children had lost their lives in 2017, while 479 had passed away in 2016 and 398 in 2015.

Health and nutrition experts have urged concerned functionaries of the Sindh government to devise long-term plans and policies so the fatalities of infants and expecting mothers could be avoided in the future.