KARACHI // Nearly 700 people have died from a three-day heatwave in southern Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday, as medics battled to treat victims after a state of emergency was declared in hospitals.
The majority of the deaths occurred in the city of Karachi, Pakistan’s economic hub of around 20 million people, where temperatures reached 45ºC at the weekend.
“The number of people who have died in the heatwave has now reached 692,” said Saeed Mangnejo, a senior provincial health official, adding that the toll may rise futher.
The deaths came as the overwhelmingly Muslim country of around 200 million people observes Ramadan.
Tahir Ashrafi, a prominent Islamic cleric, urged those who were at risk of heat stroke to abstain from fasting.
“We [religious scholars] have highlighted on various television channels that those who are at risk, especially in Karachi where there is a very serious situation, should abstain from fasting,” he said.
“Islam has drawn conditions for fasting, it is even mentioned in the holy Quran that patients and travellers who are not able to bear fasting can delay it and people who are weak or old and are at risk of falling sick or even dying because of fasting should abstain.”
Semi Jamali, a doctor at Karachi’s largest hospital said they had treated about 3,000 patients.
“More than 200 of them were either received dead or died in hospital,” he added.
Pakistan’s largest charity, Edhi Welfare Organisation, said their two morgues in the city had received more than 400 corpses in the past three days, and had reached capacity.
Seven more people were also killed in Punjab during the past 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, electricity shortages have crippled the water supply system in Karachi, hampering the pumping of millions of gallons of water to consumers.
Pakistan’s Meteorological Office said temperatures remained at around 44.5ºC in Karachi on Tuesday but forecast thunderstorms for the evening.
“Due to a low depression developing in the Arabian Sea, thunderstorms will likely begin this evening and might continue for the next three days,” a meteorological official said.
The provincial government announced a public holiday to encourage residents to stay inside. Many of the dead have been labourers who work outdoors.
Some residents also took to hosing each other down with water on Tuesday to avoid collapsing from heat stroke.
An official from the National Disaster Management Authority said that heat stroke treatment centres would be established at all hospitals across the province to provide “emergency medicines for heat stroke victims”.
The deaths come a month after neighbouring India suffered a deadly heatwave, with more than 2,000 deaths.
Hundreds of mainly poor people die at the height of summer every year in India, but this year’s toll was the second highest in the country’s history.
* Agence France-Presse
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Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
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