At least 49 people have died in 24 hours in the state of Bihar in northern India, where has been raging for over two weeks of extreme heat, the authorities said Sunday. The victims are from the Magadh region, which suffers from drought and temperatures have been around 45 degrees Celsius for several days.
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According to Vijay Kumar, head of public health, 49 people died in three districts. "Suddenly there was a sudden development on Saturday afternoon, heat stroke was carried to various hospitals, most of them died Saturday night, some Sunday morning, during the treatment," he said. Some forty additional people are hospitalized. Most of the victims were over 50 years old. They were hospitalized in a semi-conscious state with high fevers, diarrhea and vomiting.
A previous heat wave in 2015 killed more than 3,500 people in India and Pakistan
The chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, announced 400,000 rupees, or 5,000 euros, in compensation per family of each victim. Much of northern India has been subjected to stifling heat for more than two weeks. Temperatures exceed 50 degrees in Rajasthan. In 2017, researchers warned that South Asia, home to one-fifth of the world's population, could see temperatures rise to unbearable levels by the end of the century if nothing is done about climate change . In 2015, a heat wave killed more than 3,500 people in India and Pakistan.