Heatstroke kills 65 in Pakistan
Islamabad, May 22: At least 65 people have been killed due to heatstroke in the last three days in Pakistan's Karachi, where the temperature hit 44 degrees Celsius, media reported on Tuesday.
At least 114 bodies were brought to the social welfare group Edhi Foundation's morgues out of which at least 65 had died from heatstroke, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the head of the foundation Faisal Edhi.
Edhi said most of the heatstroke victims had died at their home without getting any medical help on time, adding that the youngest victim was a six-year-old, while the oldest was 78.
However, health authorities in the city have denied the claim.
Pakistan Meteorological Department issued a heatwave warning for Karachi saying that the hot weather was expected to stay between 40-43 degrees in daytime throughout the week.
Local reports said that Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar also urged residents to stay indoors during the day to avoid heatstroke.
A severe heat wave in 2015 killed at least 1,200 people in the country.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
