The Associated Press
KARACHI, Pakistan
- A blistering heat wave killed at least 36 people in different
parts of Pakistan during the weekend, doctors and police said
Monday.
In some parts
of the country, temperatures soared to 122 degrees.
At least 30
people, many of them children, died in southern Sindh province,
the hottest area of the country. Most of the deaths were the result
of heat stroke and dehydration. Scores more have been hospitalized,
officials said.
Most deaths
were reported in Kheirpur, Jacobabad and Hyderabad. Seven people
died in Kheirpur alone, doctors said. There also were reports
of heat-related deaths in eastern Punjab province, where 60 percent
of Pakistanis live.
Pakistan is
bracing for one of its hottest years. Much of the country already
is facing a severe drought. In some parts of Sindh and southwestern
Baluchistan there has been no rain in more than one year.
The lack of
water has ruined crops and contributed to the high death rate,
said Saeed Ahmed Somroo, a professor at Sindh University.
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