Six people have died in Bangladesh from heat-related illness as summer temperatures soar and power cuts plague businesses and homes, reports and officials said Thursday.
Four people died in western Chuadanga district while two more died in eastern Comilla, the English-language Daily Star said in a report.
At one of the country’s premier hospitals, more than 400 people were being treated a day, a daily increase of about 150 since the heatwave began, said Azharul Islam Khan of Dhaka’s International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research.
The country recorded the highest temperature of the year on Wednesday with the mercury topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the northern town of Ishwardi, according to the Meteorological Office.
Temperatures in the capital, Dhaka, reached 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit) and were accompanied by widespread power cuts lasting many hours.
The heatwave was likely to continue for at least two more days, Meteorological Office official Bazlur Rashid told AFP.
“The severity of the temperature will remain the same up until June 2-3 and in some places it may rise,” he warned.
