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Death Toll in Pakistan Heat Wave Tops 650, Officials Say Death Toll in Pakistan Heat Wave Tops 650, Officials Say
(about 2 hours later)
The death toll from a three-day heat wave in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, rose to over 650 people on Tuesday, morgue officials said, as overwhelmed hospitals declared a state of emergency and the provincial authorities closed schools and some offices. KARACHI, Pakistan — Karachi’s poor have long learned to cope with the many adversities that afflict Pakistan’s most crowded and chaotic city, including flooding, street violence and political crises. But since a suffocating heat wave descended on Karachi three days ago, killing at least 650 people, they have found no respite and no escape.
Temperatures have risen as high as 112 degrees Fahrenheit, or 45 Celsius, in Karachi, a city of 20 million people and the capital of Sindh Province. The impact of the devastating heat wave has been exacerbated by chronic electricity shortages and the annual Ramadan fast, when Muslims abstain from eating or drinking during daylight hours. “It’s so hot,” said a security guard, Shamim ur-Rehman, 34, as he sat on a cot, beleaguered. “There is no fan, there is nothing. I can’t sleep at night or during the day.”
Doctors at Karachi’s largest hospital, the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, said they had treated over 3,000 patients in recent days. The city’s main morgue, which is run by the Edhi Foundation, a charity, has received over 400 corpses and says it is at capacity. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared an emergency on Tuesday as the death toll from the heat wave soared, with overwhelmed hospitals struggling to treat a surge of casualties and morgues filling to capacity. The army set up emergency treatment centers in the streets and the provincial government closed schools and city offices.
The unusually high temperatures in a crowded, chaotic port city that is normally cooled by sea breezes have affected manual laborers and street vendors the most, many of whom work through the day without drinking any water. The Edhi foundation, which runs an ambulance service and Karachi’s largest morgue, said it had collected over 600 bodies in recent days.
Ice is in short supply and being sold at a premium. On Tuesday evening, Shamim ur-Rehman, 34, a watchman at a building site, prepared a tray of food and waited for the call to prayer so he could break his fast. “The first to die were the people on the streets — heroin addicts, beggars, the homeless,” said Anwar Kazmi, a spokesman for the service. “Then it was the elderly, particularly those who didn’t have anyone to take care of them.”
“My job is 24 hours,” he said as he sat on a cot opposite the building. “It’s so hot. There is no fan, there is nothing. I can’t sleep at night or during the day.” In many ways, the emergency is the product of a perfect storm of meteorological, political and religious factors in Karachi.
Doctors say many patients arrive at the hospital suffering from severe dehydration. The Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary force, set up emergency treatment centers in the streets, and Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the province’s chief minister, directed schools, colleges and government offices to close immediately. Chronic shortages of water and electricity have exacerbated the impact of the heat wave, which has brought temperatures up to 45 Celsius, or 113 degrees Fahrenheit, in a crowded city of 20 million people that is normally ventilated by a seabreeze.
The electricity grid comes under particular strain just before dusk, when Muslims break their fast and a large number of cooking appliances are used. Television coverage showed some residents leaving their cramped, overheated homes to seek relief in the streets. The health dangers are further exacerbated by the demands of the annual Ramadan fast, when most Muslims abstain from eating or drinking water during daylight hours.
The shocking death toll led to a round of political recrimination focused on the federal government, led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which has long promised to bring the country’s energy crisis under control. In Karachi, that means about 15 hours with no source of hydration — a factor that has particularly affected manual laborers and street vendors, who work outside under the sun.
The chief minister, Mr. Shah, said the federal government was responsible for the contract with K-Electric, a company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that runs Karachi’s electricity supply. Dr. Seemin Jamali, head of the Jinnah hospital’s emergency wing, said 272 people had died there from heat-related conditions, including dehydration. The smaller Abbasi Shaheed Hospital said 56 bodies had been brought in since Monday night.
But in the capital, Islamabad, the minister for water and power, Khawaja Asif, said he had no direct control over K-Electric, and other government leaders blamed the provincial government for failing to manage its own affairs. Officials said the majority of the victims were men over the age of 50, especially day laborers from lower-income groups.
Opposition leaders said they held Mr. Sharif responsible for the deaths, and declared Friday a day of mourning. Although Karachi residents are used to dealing with other emergencies — stockpiling groceries, for example, during bouts of street violence — they seemed at a loss for how to manage the extended heat wave.
Meteorologists say the hot spell will probably continue through the week, although there may be some rainfall in Karachi and other cities in Sindh Province on Tuesday night. The electricity shortages are the product of decades-long mismanagement of Pakistan’s national grid, and are often worse at dusk when many people are cooking in preparation for the end of the fast.
Not only do the power cuts make air-conditioning units and ceiling fans useless, they also reduce the water supply by shutting down pumps. Ice is in short supply and being sold for a premium in many neighborhoods.
As the death toll rose over the weekend, many residents opted to stay indoors or congregate at centrally air-conditioned malls. But that wasn’t a choice for manual laborers, who make as little as $10 a day and try to keep themselves cool as they work by wrapping wet towels around their heads to stave off the sun.
Political anger over the crisis focused on the government of Mr. Sharif, who had pledged to reduce the energy crisis when he came to power two years ago.
Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the chief minister of Sindh Province, which includes Karachi, blamed Mr. Sharif for failing to get better results from K-electric, the private company that runs the city’s electricity supply.
Addressing Parliament in the capital, Islamabad, Mr. Sharif’s officials dismissed the criticism, instead blaming Mr. Shah’s administration for failing to manage its affairs. Khawaja Asif, the national minister for water and power, said he had no direct control over K-electric.
On the streets, people blamed politicians of all stripes. Over the past year, Mr. Sharif’s government has frequently appeared impotent during moments of crisis. By contrast, the powerful military, led by Gen. Raheel Sharif, has become an increasingly assertive force in public life.
Amid the political finger pointing, some media commentators called on politicians to voluntarily cut off their own electricity and experience the hardship endured by ordinary people. Some journalists fell victim to the heat, too, like a cameraman iwho fainted during an official news conference in Karachi on Tuesday afternoon.
Most residents, meanwhile, concentrated on escaping the suffocating heat. Television coverage showed residents fleeing their flats and houses to seek shelter in the open streets.
“We try and sit in the shade,” said Mohammad Yusuf, 32, a laborer who works on a moving crew with a pickup truck. “We went all the way near the port today and sat under a tree for three hours.”
At the Jinnah hospital, Dr. Jamali said her staff had treated over 5,000 patients between Saturday and Monday. The heat, not the fasting, was the principal factor in the deaths, she said.
Although many continued to fast, others quietly admitted that they were unable to cope with the demands of their faith. Subah Sadiq, a fruit vendor and father of seven, said it was impossible to stand in the street all day without drinking anything.
“This is the only way to survive,” he said.
Even for those not fasting, staying hydrated is a challenge: under Pakistani law, eating and drinking in public places are illegal during Ramadan, although some clerics said their followers could break the fast if their health was in danger.
Mr. Rehman, the building watchman, was refusing to give up.
“As long as I have some life in me, and strong intentions, I will fast,” he said.
One small glimmer of good news came from the weather service. Although hot weather is due to continue through this week, officials said, a small amount of rainfall was predicted for Karachi and surrounding cities for late Tuesday night.