Another 25 people died in Pakistan’s Sindh province on Wednesday as the death toll in the country’s deadliest <g data-gr-id="23">heatwave</g> in a decade reached 1,361 even as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered an inquiry into the tragedy.
According to <g data-gr-id="12">officials</g> the victims were admitted to hospitals for treatment of heatwave-related illnesses in the province and died on Wednesday.
“They were 22 deaths reported today from different hospitals in Karachi and three in Badin and Tharparkar districts,” a Sindh health department official said. Afzal <g data-gr-id="20">Bughio</g> said that the death toll from the heatwave in Karachi was around 1,260 while 101 more deaths were reported from other parts of the province. Pakistan’s biggest city and financial capital Karachi was gripped by a scorching heatwave last month when temperatures soared to around 45 degrees Celsius and coupled with heavy power breakdowns and load shedding led to hundreds of deaths.
Although the <g data-gr-id="18">heatwave</g> has subsided in the city and other parts of the <g data-gr-id="17">province</g> but Karachiites are yet to witness the full return of the customary sea breeze which makes life easier in the hot weather.
UN’s guidance to combat heatwaves
Geneva: For the first time, the United Nations on Wednesday issued a new joint guidance for countries to address the health risks posed by <g data-gr-id="40">heatwaves</g> that have become more frequent and deadlier over the last 50 years, recently killing over 3,000 people in India and Pakistan.
The WHO and World Meteorological Organisation joined forces to issue guidelines on Heat-Health Warning Systems that will help contain the heatwaves that have turned out to be more hazardous due to climate change.