Caritas Pakistan urges Government to act and prevent heat wave deaths

(Vatican Radio) The death toll from a heatwave in Pakistan's southern Sindh province has crossed 800, hospital officials say, as mortuaries reached capacity. At least 780 people have died in Karachi, BBC Urdu reported. Another 30 deaths were reported elsewhere in the province, state owned PTV said. The Edhi Welfare Organisation told AFP that their mortuaries had received hundreds of corpses and were now full.

Caritas Pakistan executive secretary Amjad Gulzar slams outages that left Karachi’s 20 million people without power. Heat stroke victims “should have access to adequate medical facilities.” Most victims are elderly and poor.

"Unfortunately, in many hospitals, care for heat stroke patients is not a priority,” lamented Amjad Gulzar, Caritas Pakistan executive secretary, who spoke with AsiaNews about the appalling heat wave that has hit the city of Karachi, Sindh province.

"Although such a large number of deaths is due to the heat wave’s exceptionally high temperature, power outages have also left people stranded at home without power. For this reason,” he said, “parliament met yesterday to discuss the situation.”

Karachi resident Muzzafar Khan told the Associated Press: "The electricity hasn't been working since seven this morning and even during the night there were frequent breakdowns.

"We are forced to sleep in the streets. Ours are small houses; the power supply cables get damaged frequently and nobody is dealing with this situation."

According to official data, 744 people have died in Karachi, 38 more, in the surrounding areas. With temperatures reaching 45 Celsius, hospitals in Karachi, a megalopolis of 20 million people, are being overwhelmed as sick people continue to arrive.

"Caritas Pakistan has an office in the city,” Gulzar said. It has sent people “to visit the sick in hospitals and medical clinics. We are collecting information on the situation, meeting the sick and considering what to do. But we are not yet able to bring help. "

"Most victims are seniors over 60 and the poor,” the Caritas secretary said. “Some young people have died at the emergency because of the heat. However, the fact that it is Ramadan has made matters worse, since Muslims have to abstain from food and drink during daylight hours.”

This means that, amidst these scorching temperatures, Pakistanis are forgoing food and water. Certain segments of the population, however, are excused from fasting, such as the elderly and the infirm. Some clerics have issued statements and appeared on television reminding people they are not obliged to fast if they are weak, elderly or simply not fit to fast, the BBC's correspondent says.

Wednesday has been declared a public holiday by the administration in Sindh in the hope that people will stay indoors out of the sun.

On Tuesday as temperatures reached 45C (113F), Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for emergency measures, and the army was deployed to help set up heatstroke treatment centres around the city. Nevertheless, many protests broke out in reaction to the authorities’ inadequate response.

In Sindh, the provincial government has been slammed for its indifference and insensitivity. Similarly, federal authorities have been criticised for their slow response to the worsening situation.

Amjad Gulzar agrees that the situation is critical. "It is hard to find a solution,” he said. “What is certain is that the city of Karachi, the most populous of the country, has a substandard power grid. This does not help.”

“People should have access to adequate medical facilities. However, that is not seen as a priority in public hospitals, whilst private clinics are overflowing with patients. The situation is now very critical.”

For the Caritas secretary, people need answers from the government rights away. “What we can do is urge the provincial chief minister and the highest authorities to take necessary steps to solve the situation and help those who are suffering."

To the east, a heat wave struck Pakistan's neighbor India last month, killing more than 2,000 people.

(AsiaNews, BBC, CNN, AFP)