The death toll from a heatwave in country rose to more than two dozen people, officials said on Monday. At least 13 devotees marking a 13th-Century Sufi saint's birthday in the Sindh died Sunday as temperatures reached 46 degrees Celsius, rescue official Meraj Ahmed said. Twelve more deaths were attributed to the heat Monday as the temperature climbed another degree to 47, Ahmed said.
Thousands of men and women throng the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Dadu district every year to pay their respect to the saint, born in present-day Iran. Heatwaves kill thousands of people across South Asia every summer. Temperatures in southern deserts sometimes touch 50 degrees Celsius.