India: Heat kills at least 15 as temperatures near 50C

Several people have died due to heat-related ailments over the past 24 hours as temperatures continue to soar in northern and central India.

Ten fatalities were recorded at the government hospital in Odisha’s Rourkela region on Thursday, authorities told Reuters news agency.

Heat-stroke-related deaths have also been reported from the states of Bihar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand and the national capital, Delhi.

The searing heat comes as India is holding its general election, the results of which will be declared on 4 June.

Mahendra Kumar, district magistrate of Bhojpur district in Bihar told the Times of India newspaper that three election officers and a policeman had died in the city on Thursday due to heat stroke.

“It was the hottest day, and despite having medical facilities at all centres, they collapsed. One home guard [volunteer policeman] became unconscious where he was staying,” Mr Kumar said, adding that the man died in the hospital while being treated by doctors.

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He also said that around 30-40 people had been admitted to the same hospital on Thursday due to heat-related ailments.

Hospitals in the region are recording a rise in admissions due to heat-related ailments.

On Thursday, a labourer admitted with a heat stroke died while receiving treatment at a hospital in Delhi.

India’s National Centre for Disease Control calls heat strokes a “life-threatening” condition with a mortality rate of 40 to 64%.

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