Heatwave toll climbs to 1233

The death toll from a week-long heatwave in Karachi has reached 1233, with almost 2000 others currently being treated in hospitals, officials say.

Pakistani relatives shift a heatstroke victim to a hospital in Karachi on June 24, 2015. (RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistani relatives shift a heatstroke victim to a hospital in Karachi on June 24, 2015. (RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images) Source: AFP

A Pakistani official says the devastating week-long heatwave in the southern port city of Karachi has killed 1233 people.

Nazar Mohammad Bozdar, operations director at the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said on Saturday that 65,000 heatstroke patients were treated at the city's hospitals since June 20 when the heat wave struck Sindh province and its capital, Karachi.

He told The Associated Press that 1923 patients with heat-related ailments are still being treated.

Temperatures in Karachi on Saturday came down to 34C after touching 45C a week ago amid chronic power outages.

The heat wave struck Karachi at a time when the city's Muslim majority was observing the dawn-to-dusk fasting month of Ramadan.


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Source: AAP

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