added. “Many patients who are being refused treatment by other hospitals are being brought to the Civil hospital.”
Around 76 patients suffering from heat-related complications died at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Monday alone and an overwhelming number of others were being treated at its different wards.
The JPMC authorities said the number of deaths caused by heat-related complications on Sunday and Monday had reached 171. The JPMC too, they added, was filled to its capacity with patients, mostly elderly people.
Similarly, over 71 patients died at different hospitals and dispensaries of the Karachi Metropolitan Hospital including the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, KMC medical services senior director Dr Salma Kauser told The News.
She said earlier, the bodies of many patients who had died of heat had been taken away by their relatives without the completion of formalities from the KMC-run hospitals. However, she added, since Sunday they had issued 71 death certificates of people who had died of heat-related complications.
Dr Kauser said all 258 hospitals of the KMC had run out of space to accommodate mote patients. As far as private hospitals are concerned, both the Aga Khan and Liaquat National hospitals refused to admit more patients after they ran out of space.
Anjum Rizvi, a spokesperson for the Liaquat National Hospital, said during the last three days, over a 100 patients had been brought to their facility, of which 12 were already dead at the time of arrival while 10 died during treatment. He said the LNH had established a 35-bed heat stroke centre.
A spokesperson for the AKUH said the hospital had refused to admit more patients suffering from heat stroke as it was packed to its capacity. He added that at the moment, the hospital could not provide the number of patients who had died of heat-related complications.
At least 32 heat stroke patients died and hundreds of others were being treated at the Indus Hospital, said its spokesperson Saqib Zeeshan. At least 23 patients died at the Ziauddin Hospital braches in North Nazimabad and Clifton during the last two days.
Heat stroke centres
A spokesperson for the Sindh Rangers said the paramilitary force had set up heat stroke centres at 10 different locations in the city. He added that at each centre, doctors, paramedical staff and the equipment and medicines required to treat heat stroke were available.
The centres are located at the Rangers Training Centre and College, Toll Plaza phone: 36871683; Sindh Rangers Hospital, Block A, North Nazimabad, phone 36670725; HQ 53 Wing, Baldia Town, phone 32814044; HQ 93 Wing, People’s Football Stadium, Mauripur Road, phone: 32032629; HQ 91 Wing, SITE Stadium, phone: 32597050; HQ 72 Wing, Kala Pul, phone 99202545 and 99205489; HQ 83 Wing, Jamia Millia Malir, phone: 34491746; HQ 82 Wing, Muzaffarabad Colony, phone: 35080167; HQ 63 Wing, Karachi University phone: 99261056 and HQ 44 Wing, North Karachi, phone: 36493000.
Welfare organisations including the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association and Al-Khidmat Welfare Society also set up relief camps at hospitals and other locations.
KE rapid response teams
The K-Electric said of the 1,400 feeders in the city, 1,380 feeders were functioning properly and no unannounced power outages were being carried out in any area of the city.
In a statement, the power utility said 98 percent of the city was receiving uninterrupted power supply during sehar and iftar timings.
It said KE offices were open 24 hours for its customers and despite the violence, abusive language and deadly hot weather conditions, the power utility’s staff was available to fix the faults.
The KE said it was regrettable that the power utility was being held responsible for the deaths caused by the heat wave in the city.
The power utility said a dumper had collided with the Gadap transmission line, damaging three towers and collapsing one, leading to the suspension of power supply to six feeders of the area. “This was an external fault for which the KE cannot be held responsible,” the statement read.
The KE also condemned PML-N MPA Humayun Khan’s brother and his friends’ “attack on the KE staff at the IBC Clifton”.