20 more bodies found in Karachi as city continues to bake in sweltering heat

Various hospitals in Karachi have received 20 bodies during the last 24 hours as sweltering weather continues unabated in the metropolis.

"Bodies of 20 people, including 15 drug addicts were recovered from roads, pavements, and flyovers in Karachi," rescue officials said.

They said three bodies were found in the Lyari area of Jehanabad while one body each was recovered from Lyari, Landhi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Garden, Shoe Market, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, II Chundrigar Road, Korangi, Clifton, Malir, Quaidabad and Super Highway.

The rescue officials said that the bodies had been shifted to the morgues of the Civil Hospital, Jinnah Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Fourteen bodies could not be identified so far, the rescue personnel said.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Health Department said earlier today that with two fatalities reported today at the Civil Hospital, the number of casualties that occurred due to heat stroke from June till now has reached 51.

Furthermore, the health department revealed that nearly 50 heatstroke cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

The port city has been in the grip of a heatwave for the last few days making life miserable for the masses as they face hours-long unannounced load-shedding despite the power utility's assurances.

A day earlier, the mercury in the metropolis touched 40.5°C with feels like temperature soaring to 56°C.

The phenomenon of such mysterious deaths came to the fore last month when rescue officials in the metropolis recovered bodies attributed to scorching heat from different parts of the port city.

Back then, a spokesperson for the Chhipa Welfare Association reported the number of bodies reached 22 after they received five more on June 25.

The non-government organisation, which runs a network of ambulances, had said that three of them were seemingly drug addicts, adding that most bodies "remained unclaimed so far".

Edhi Foundation’s spokesperson had also confirmed to The News that most of the deceased were drug addicts who died due to severe heat while being under the influence of drugs.