At least 31 people have died as a searing heatwave brought temperatures of nearly 47 degrees Celsius (116 Fahrenheit) to central Pakistan, officials said Monday. The hot spell comes amid a warning from the country's top meteorologist that Pakistan faces a possible drought with no significant rain expected in the next two months.
The capital Islamabad was hit by a duststorm on Monday while streets in the central city of Multan in Punjab province were deserted as the high temperatures kept residents indoors.
"We have received reports here that 31 people have died in the heatwave during the last three days," Amir Salman, a spokesman for Punjab's health department, told AFP.
Health officials from a number of dustbowl districts in the south of the province gave a toll of 33. They said 17 died at the weekend and another 16 in the past 24 hours.
Dozens of other people have been admitted to hospital.
"We are receiving a number of heat-stricken people daily in the emergency ward," said Laiq Hussain Siddiqui, a doctor at Multan's Nishtar Hospital.
Temperatures hit 46.8 degrees in the Bahawalnagar and Dera Ghazi Khan districts of Punjab and more hot and dry weather is forecast for the next two or three days, the Meteorological Department said.
Fifty-three people have died from blistering heat in neighbouring India.
Last year a heatwave killed some 200 people in Pakistan, although that did not start until a month and a half later into the year. Temperatures generally fall July or August with the advent of the monsoon.
Source: Agence France-Presse
