A heat wave in Karachi as well as other districts of the Sindh province has claimed at least 140 lives, according to health officials, CNN affiliate GEO-TV reported.
"Since Saturday, 131 people have died in Karachi and nine others (have died) in three districts of Sindh," said Provincial Health Secretary Saeed Mangnejo.
The temperature on Saturday escalated to 44.8 degrees Celsius (112.64 degrees Fahrenheit), which is the highest recorded temperature in Pakistan in over 15 years, according to CNN.
People across the nation continue to battle the scorching heat amid unexpected and long power outages in spite of the government's claim that it would not turn to load shedding, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Most people in Pakistan are fasting from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan.
The number of deaths directly resulting from the heat wave is yet to be determined. "So far, we have received over 90 dead bodies at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre since Saturday night," said Seemin Jamali, head of the hospital's emergency department, according to Pakistan Today.
Jamali said that 10 bodies were brought in to the hospital on Saturday night while the others arrived on Sunday. "They may have been suffering from different diseases, but most of them died [from] heat stroke or heat exhaustion," said Jamali.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), hot and humid weather is likely to continue until Monday, however people can expect some respite from the heat with a slight dip in temperatures forecasted Tuesday onwards.
