Deadly heat wave in Karachi, around three dozen unexplained deaths alarm agencies

Karachi: Pakistan’s Karachi, hit by extremely hot weather is grappling with an unforeseen crisis even as locals battle waves of heat strokes in the past two days, leading to a spike in the number of deaths.

The largest city of Pakistan is witnessing a concerning and disturbing trend — the discovery of unidentified bodies, which has now swelled to 36 in number. This has sent alarm bells ringing for the officials as neither the bodies have been claimed by anyone nor any reason identified for the unexplained deaths.

The Sindh provincial government has set up at least 77 heat wave relief centres across Karachi after the discovery of unidentified dead bodies. In the last three consecutive days, at least 36 people are reported to have perished in the intense heat wave.

The local administration was shocked at the discovery of at least 10, 15 and 11 bodies on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday respectively. The bodies were discovered by welfare organizations, whose ambulances kept shifting the bodies to hospitals.

According to an Edhi Foundation representative, most of the dead bodies were of people, who were under the influence of drugs, which, he said becomes a deadly combination with the heat wave.

“Many of the deceased individuals were reportedly under the influence of drugs at the time of the demise. It’s a lethal combination of intense heat and substance abuse”, said Azeem Khan, representative of Edhi Foundation.

Another welfare organization, whose ambulances recovered the bodies from different parts of Karachi, confirmed that some of the deceased individuals were drug addicts.

“Three of the deceased appeared to be victims of drug addictions”, said a volunteer of the Chhipa Welfare Association.

Concerns still remain around the identity of the majority of the deceased individuals, as no family member has come to claim the bodies, nor has their identity been established yet.

The alarming surge in the recovery of unidentified dead bodies in the past three days has prompted the Sindh government to take immediate steps and set up heat wave relief centres across the city.

The move also comes amid a serious warning issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), predicting extreme temperatures for southern regions of the country.

Hospitals across Karachi continue to receive a massive amount of patients every day, putting pressure on the city’s medical resources.

As per sources in Jinnah Hospital Karachi, doctors are attending to hundreds of patients every day with medical issues related to heat wave.

“Many of the patients are treated and discharged after initial medical aid. But the number is increasing every day”, said a duty doctor in Jinnah Hospital, Karachi.

It is believed that their family members disowned the deceased victims of drug abuse and heat waves, as no one has come forward to claim the bodies. Moreover, the identity of the deceased has also become an issue for the authorities, as most of the deceased did not have their identity cards in their possession.

Hospitals across Karachi and the Sindh province have been put on alert while the government is trying to mitigate the flow of patients to hospitals through its 77 heat wave relief centres set up across the city.

IANS