No let-up in hot weather as four more die from heatstroke in Karachi

KARACHI: While the Pakistan Meteorological Department said that Karachi weather will return to ‘normal’ from Sunday (today) with the sea breeze expected to resume, hot and humid weather persisted in the city on Saturday as four more patients died from heatstroke at two hospitals.

Also on Saturday, the Edhi Foundation reported to have received 142 bodies at its three morgues on Friday.

The Met Office said that the maximum temperature recorded at 2pm was 38 degrees Celsius with 49 per cent relative humidity. There was no change in the temperature till 4pm, though humidity further increased to 52pc.

“With this temperature and humidity, the heat index [the feels-like temperature] comes to around 50°C. In these conditions, people are very vulnerable to heatstroke if precautions are not taken,” shared Chief Meteorologist Dr S. Sarfaraz.

Met Office says Karachi likely to return to its ‘normal’ weather conditions today

He, however, hoped that the weather would return to normal soon as the low pressure had weakened.

In its advisory, the Met Office stated that Karachi was likely to return to its normal weather conditions associated with the month of June on Sunday (today), with the maximum temperature expected to range between 35-37°C. The weather is likely to be hot and humid.

59 died from heatstroke at four hospitals in a week

With four more deaths on Saturday, the total number of mortalities from heatstroke at four tertiary care hospitals — the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) and Indus Hospital — has reached 59 this week.

Sources said that the actual number of cases was much higher as rescue services and non-profit welfare organisations reported a three- to four-fold increase in the number of bodies routinely received at their morgues.

The Edhi Foundation stated that 142 bodies — the highest number this week so far — were brought to its morgues on Friday.

The source said the four mortalities were reported at the CHK and ASH.

Two female patients, both in their 50s, were brought to the CHK in critical condition. One of them had diabetes and hypertension.

The sources said 18 patients had died of heatstroke at CHK this week where over 50 patients reported with the illness on Saturday.

No mortality was reported from the JPMC where 29 heatwave patients were successfully managed.

Sources at the ASH said 14 patients had died of heatstroke at the hospital from June 21 to June 29.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2024