Pakistan heatwave toll crosses 1,330 mark

A week-long spell of heatwave in Karachi has come to an end, with the provincial authorities putting the figure of those affected by heatstroke at 100,000 in the Pakistani port city only and the toll at over 1,330 in Sindh province.

At least 26 more died in the city and two other districts on Monday, taking the toll to 1,332 -- 1,234 in Karachi and 98 in other districts of Sindh -- since June 20, when the punishing heatwave gripped the province, Dawn reported.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said more than 100,000 people were affected by the heatwave in Karachi alone, even as the total number of heatwave victims living in other parts of Sindh was being compiled.

A senior health department official said that hospitals in Karachi were still receiving heatstroke patients despite a change in the weather after last week's heatwave. 

“The hospitals were still receiving heatstroke patients in the afternoon,” said the official.