Pakistani government said death toll from a heat wave in southern part of the country exceeded 1,100 by Thursday night, in spite of a drop in temperature in the worst-hit city of Karachi.

Health Ministry Director, Ijaz Afzal, in the province of Sindh said as hospitals, morgues and graveyards are now struggling to keep pace with the unfolding tragedy.

He said no fewer than 1,000 people have died in Karachi since the start of Ramadan last Thursday.

Victims of the heatwave being prepared for burial in Pakistan

Afzal, said on Thursday alone 200 deaths were reported at hospitals, in spite of a dip in temperatures to 36 degrees Celsius from around 45 Celsius earlier in the week.

He said the toll might rise with more disaster reports coming in to the ministry from hospitals in Karachi and other parts of the province.

Muhammad Hanif, a Director at the Pakistan Meteorological Office, said that a cool breeze from the Arabian Sea helped lower temperatures from Wednesday evening.

Nafees Qureshi, a District Administration official, said more than 80 people died this week in Hyderabad, adjacent to Karachi.

Seemin Jamali, a doctor on emergency duty, said the fall in temperatures had eased pressure on hospitals.

The hospitals were overwhelmed by thousands of patients being driven in by relentless queues of ambulances during the week.

He said even at that it was not an easy situation as no fewer than 8,000 patients with heatstroke were treated in four days.

“We have people lying on the floor and in the corridors”, he said.

Anwar Kazmi, spokesman for Edhi Foundation, Pakistan’s largest charity which runs a network of mortuaries in Karachi, said morgues were at full capacity and bodies were being placed on floors.

The city’s gravediggers said they have been working overtime since Monday, but were not able to keep pace with the burials.

“All the men in our community have been busy this week. A lot of bodies are coming for burial every day,’’ one of them said.

(dpa/NAN)