Severe heat has left
dozens dead over a 24-hour period in India’s Bihar state, as the country enters
the third week of searing temperatures, officials said on Sunday.
The deaths occurred in
three districts of the poor northern state, where temperatures have hovered
around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in recent days, senior health
official Vijay Kumar told AFP. Forty-nine people died in three districts
of the Magadh region that has been hit by drought, he said.
“It was a sudden
development on Saturday afternoon. People affected by heatstroke were rushed to
different hospitals. Most of them died on Saturday night and some on Sunday
morning during treatment” Kumar added.
Kumar said
about 40 more people were being treated at a government-run hospital in
Aurangabad. “Patients affected by heat stroke are still being brought,
the death toll is likely to increase if the heatwave continues.” Most of the
victims were aged above 50 and were rushed to hospitals in a semi-conscious
state with symptoms of high fever, diarrhoea and vomiting.
Twenty-seven people died
in Aurangabad district, 15 in Gaya and seven in Nawada district, officials
said. State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced a compensation of
400,000 rupees ($5,700) for the family of each victim. Harsh Vardhan, India’s
health minister, said people should not leave their homes until temperatures
fall. “Intense heat affects the brain and leads to various health
issues,” he said.
Large parts of
northern India have endured more than two weeks of sweltering heat.
Temperatures have risen above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in the desert
state of Rajasthan. A heatwave in 2015 left more than 3,500 dead in India
and Pakistan. In 2017, researchers said South Asia, which is home to
one-fifth of the world’s population, could see heat levels rise to unsurvivable
levels by the end of the century if no action is taken on global warming.
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