|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 4 June 2003 |
 |
|
 |
World | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Death toll soars past 1,000 in worst day of killer heatwave NEW DILHI ,Tuesday (AFP) The death toll passed 1,000 in a killer heatwave when 136 people died in India on Monday, the highest number of deaths on a single day since the unusually hot weather began last month, an offical said. "Today has been one of the worst days in terms of casualties with the death toll jumping to 1,020 people," D.C. Rosaiah, relief commissioner of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh told AFP. Indians desperate for an end to the heatwave have begun seeking divine intervention. More than 10,000 Hindus flocked to the parched bed of Osmansagar Lake - a key source of water in Andhra Pradesh's capital Hyderabad but which dried up in April. They held special prayers for rain Sunday, the hottest day in the city this year, when the mercury hit 43.9 degrees Celsius (111 Fahrenheit), some eight degrees above normal. In the north of the province, temperatures have reached 50 degrees, producing mounting death tolls among labourers unable or unwilling to take an afternoon off from the fields. "This extreme heat and drought has dried up all water sources and badly affected the fishing community. Only rains can bring some respite," prayer leader G. Narsingh Rao said. Elsewhere in the city, thousands gathered at the Miralam mosque in this historically Muslim city to seek God's help in ending the heatwave. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
