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Hundreds die in Indian heatwave
May 24, 2015, 2:46 pm

Around 400 people have died due to intense heat wave across India in the last four days, a senior official said Sunday [Xinhua]

Around 400 people have died due to intense heat wave across India in the last four days, a senior official said Sunday [Xinhua]

Record temperatures in India have claimed hundreds of lives in what is believed to be the hottest summer in the country since records began in the late 1800s.

Around 400 people have died due to intense heat wave across India in the last four days, a senior official said Sunday.

368 people were from the neighbouring southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where the mercury topped 47 degrees celsius last week.

Meanwhile, northern states also reeled under dry and hot weather conditions.

In the Indian capital, the mercury shot up to 44.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the highest this season.

Indian Meteorological Department forecasters have said the mercury will continue its upward trend in the next few days.

Although unseasonal rains destroyed crops earlier this year, India’s farmers are now impatient for the arrival of the monsoon, which irrigates 60% of India’s fields.

 

TBP and Agencies