Karachi: Increase in the number of deaths in cold storage, the reason is heatwave?
Dead bodies are being brought to the mortuary of Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, more than usual for the last six days. Rescue organizations claim that so far more than 650 dead bodies have been shifted to the morgue, more bodies have been brought to the morgue from congested areas of the city.
Like the rest of the country, the sun is shining in Karachi. While the intense heat is troubling the citizens, announced and unannounced loadshedding in the city has also added to their problems.
Special arrangements have been made for people affected by heat wave in various public and private hospitals of the city.
Staff in other hospitals including Civil Hospital Karachi, Jinnah Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed have been alerted. Apart from this, camps have also been set up on the roads by various welfare organizations where water is sprinkled on the passers-by and cold drinks are provided to them.
According to Faisal Edhi, head of Edhi Welfare, 568 dead bodies have been brought to him in three different cold rooms in the last six days.
He told Urdu News that the heirs of most of the deceased are there, while there are some deceased whose heirs have not come forward.
According to Faisal Edhi, an unusual increase in heat intensity is being seen in Karachi city these days, along with this, power outage is also a big problem in the city.
Dead bodies have been brought from all over the city in cold storage. Most of these dead bodies are brought from densely populated areas. It cannot be said that heatwave is the cause of death of these dead, because many of the dead are of people suffering from various diseases. But in general, not so many dead bodies come daily as have been brought in the last six days.
Chhepa Welfare spokesperson Mohammad Shahid said that 100 dead bodies have been brought to Chhepa’s cold storage rooms in the last three days.
He said that a total of 37 dead bodies were brought to the mortuary on Sunday. Among them, 13 dead bodies are left behind and 24 dead bodies have been kept by their heirs. Similarly, on Monday, 44 dead bodies have been transferred to the mortuary, of which 15 are abandoned and 29 dead bodies have been deposited by the heirs. On Tuesday, the dead bodies of 19 people were brought to the mortuary, eight of which are deceased and 11 have been deposited by their heirs.
A report provided by the Sindh Health Department stated that 1718 people affected by heat wave have been transferred to different hospitals in Sindh province in the last one month, including 1269 men, 397 women and less than five years old. 52 children of age are included.
The report further stated that one out of 1718 people died in Karachi due to heat wave. The victim was shifted from Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to Jinnah Hospital.
Regarding the details of the cases in the province, it has been said that the highest number of heat wave cases have been recorded in Dadu city of Sindh, where 877 people have been affected by heat wave from May 21 to 25. Similarly, 337 cases have been reported in Shaheed Benazirabad. The highest number of cases in Karachi city have been recorded in South District, a total of 110 people have been hospitalized in this district from May 21 to 25 and the only death in the province has also been recorded in this district.
Are the conditions like 2015 going to arise?
Muhammad Waseem, a member of the Karachi Heat Wave Cell, while talking to Urdu News, said that with the increase in the intensity of heat in Karachi, the arrival of people suffering from heat stroke has started in the hospitals, but the situation is not the same as in the year 2015.
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He said that the government of Sindh has already taken steps keeping in view the weather situation, efforts are being made to provide maximum facilities to the people.
Muhammad Waseem said that “It is scary to think about the situation in 2015, it was a scene that no one can forget.” There were only reports of people dying from all sides, and no one could understand why. On the one hand, there was no room in the hospitals, on the other hand, the cold rooms were full. People were going from one mortuary to another with the dead bodies of their loved ones and were worried about the burial of the dead.
After this incident many things have improved, now a system has been established in all the hospitals of Sindh. Even now the cases affected by heat wave are being reported, the patients are being provided with the necessary facilities immediately, saving many precious lives.
On the other hand, political parties are also protesting and making statements against K Electric over announced and unannounced load shedding in the city.
Provincial Ministers Saeed Ghani, Nasir Hussain Shah and Zia Linjar from Pakistan People’s Party have reacted strongly to the power outage in the city.
Provincial Interior Minister Zia Linjar says that there is concern over the deaths of several people in Karachi in recent days.
He said that in the investigation of sudden deaths, if load shedding is the reason, then murder cases will be filed against the K Electric administration.
On the issue of sudden increase in deaths in Karachi, the spokesperson of K Electric says that his organization is taking all possible measures to supply electricity in the city.
He said that responsibility for sudden deaths in the city cannot be put on electric. KE administration is making sure the power supply in the city by utilizing all its resources.
The spokesperson further said that there is a clear system in place regarding load shedding in the city. There is scheduled load shedding in areas where power theft and bill payment ratio is low. Areas with good recovery have better power supply.
