According to Edhi center, at least 65 people have died in different areas of Karachi from heatstroke.
According to Faisal Edhi, 114 bodies were brought to the Edhi Foundation in Karachi’s Korangi and Sohrab Goth areas in the past few days, out of them at least 65 had died from heatstroke. Most of the citizens who died from heatstroke were residents of Landhi and Korangi.
Faisal Edhi said that most heatstroke victims had died at their home. The people who are victims from Karachi of the on-going heatwave are from all ages.
“People did not get medical help on time, which resulted in their death,” he said.
Highlighting the intensity of the crisis caused by the severe heat, Faisal said that the morgue in Korangi receives around 10-11 bodies per day which are mostly in critical condition. However, since Saturday evening, the morgue had received 34 bodies, while the morgue in Sohrab Goth had received 30 bodies.
Sindh Health Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho rejected that any of the deceased died due to heat stroke in Karachi.
Most of the victims, Faisal told had expired while going about doing daily chores in or outside of their homes.
Attempts to independently verify Faisal Edhi’s claims proved inconclusive, as some of the families who lost their loved ones attributed the deaths to pre-existing ailments or other causes while hospital sources declined to comment on.
“Only doctors and hospitals can decide whether the cause of death was heat stroke or not. I categorically reject that people have died due to heat stroke in Karachi, Dr Pechuho said.
Hospitals in Karachi have not received a single heat stroke patient during the last three days, the health secretary claims.
Temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius are expected to persist in Karachi until the end of May as the city is suffering from this intense heatwave.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department issued an alert for the city, saying that “hot to very hot weather is likely to prevail in Karachi this summer season”. A maximum temperature of 44˚C was recorded at 3pm in Karachi on Sunday.
Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar urged residents to stay indoors during the day to avoid heatstroke.
