SEHWAN: The death toll of devotees of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar reached 15 on Thursday due to heatstroke in various parts of Sehwan city.

Sarwar Shaikh, the in-charge of the Edhi Centre in Sehwan, said the death toll of devotees of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar had reached 15 as heatstroke had persisted there for the last four days.

Read more: How to prevent and cure heatstroke

Mr Shaikh said the dead and their names were: 26-year-old Javed, son of Shah Mohammad, resident of Lahore; 60-year-old Mohammad Zafar, son of Wahid Bux, resident of Multan, who died of heatstroke on Thursday, the second day of the annual urs celebrations.

Jamshoro DC disputes death toll, cause

The names of the other victims are: Abdul Razzak, 49, a resident of Attock; 50-year-old Ghulam Mustafa, son of Malook, resident of Deparja; 60-year-old Zamir Shah, resident of Gujrat; 50-year-old Syed Qamar Ali Shah, son of Syed Murtaza Shah, resident of Dera Ismail Khan; Haji Khan, 42, resident of Khairpur Nathan Shah; Nawab Khatoon, 80, resident of Khairpur Mirs; 54-year-old Karam Shah, son of Bahadur Shah, resident of Sargodha. Karam Shah died on the first day of the urs celebrations on Wednesday.

He said 45-year-old Sajid Ali, son of Mushtaq Ali, resident of Faisalabad; 48-year-old Sakhawat Ali, son of Jalil Khan, resident of Shujaabad, Multan, died on Tuesday, the eve of urs celebrations.

He said that Mohammad Ali, 45, a resident of Ratodero; Meerzadi Khatoon,45, resident of Dadu city; Mohammad Aqil, 32, resident of Khanewal; 40-year-old Mohammad Siddiq, son of Liaquat Ali Panhwar, resident of Phulji Station died on Monday, two days before the urs celebrations began.

DC disputes deaths

Deputy Commissioner of Jamshoro and chairman of the Mela Committee Fareeduddin Mustafa has said that seven people had died in the last four days in Sehwan city. He said that they died in the evening or at night when no heatstroke was likely. He denied that anyone died of heatstroke.

The Mela Committee chief was talking to journalists in Sehwan city after reported deaths of devotees and a press conference of sajadah nasheen of Qalandar’s dargah on Thursday.

He said the Syed Abdullah Shah Institute of Health and Sciences was a big hospital and if any person had died of any diseases there, it could not be attributed to heatstroke. He said the Edhi Ambulance report was not correct.

Talking to Dawn, Dr Moeen Siddiqui stated that no person had died of heatstroke in Sehwan in the last two days.

He, however, said that seven persons were brought dead to hospital from different areas of Sehwan city. He said that when they were examined, the cause of death was found to be heart attack, chest pain and liver failure. He said that some of them were aged persons and were not taking medicines for their chronic diseases.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2019