Rising mercury killing people, hurting trade

The scorching heatwave that has gripped Karachi since the start of Ramazan has claimed the lives of scores of people, health and rescue officials said on Sunday. "So far, we have received 85 dead bodies at Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre since Saturday night," said Dr Seemin Jamali, Joint Executive Director of JPMC.
She said 10 people were brought to the hospital dead on Saturday night, while other dead were brought to the hospital on Sunday. Of those who were admitted on Sunday, Dr Jamali said five died during treatment at the emergency department.
"They may have been suffering from different diseases but most probably, they died of heat stroke or exhaustion," said Dr Jamali.
Quoting some of her patients, Dr Jamali said they had left their homes on Sunday and collapsed.
Most of the deceased were old people, she said, but added that a few young patients were admitted in critical conditions and later passed away during treatment. All deceased were male, she said.
An Edhi Foundation spokesperson said in the past 24 hours his foundation registered as many as 150 dead at the Sohrab Goth Edhi morgue.
"Most of them were brought by their relatives," said Anwar Kazmi, the Edhi Foundation spokesperson. "We can't be sure about the exact causes of their deaths- whether or not they died of heat cannot be ascertained," said Kazmi.
But Kazmi did say that relatives of those who died told Edhi volunteers that due to extreme weather conditions, they could not keep the bodies of their dear ones at home.
While Saturday was the hottest day of this year's summer in Karachi, where the mercury soared to 45 degrees Celsius, the maximum temperature of 48 degrees Celsius was recorded in three districts of Sindh - Jacobabad, Larkana and Sukkur.
An official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department told that wind pattern indicated that the relatively cool sea breeze was not blowing and the city was getting hot continental air.
He said the minimum temperature recorded in Karachi on Saturday was 32 degrees Celsius while humidity - a measure of the amount of moisture in the air - was 45 per cent.
He said that the weather in the city on Sunday was expected to be hot/very hot and dry and the maximum temperature was expected to remain between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius. However, the Met department's website shows the maximum temperature to range between 44 and 46 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
The highest temperature Karachi has ever experienced was 48 degrees Celsius on May 9, 1938.