‘Suffocating’: Pakistanis suffer under extreme heat as temperatures top 50 degrees
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00:00 Parts of Punjab are scorching under a brutal heat wave, with some areas exceeding 47 degrees Celsius.
00:07 The temperature is 4 to 6 degrees higher than the average at this time of the year.
00:11 This farmer puts a wet cloth on his head to cool off.
00:15 Despite the heat, Mohamad Imran works during the hottest hours of the day.
00:19 "You see here that the seeds have germinated, but nothing has grown.
00:28 It's because of the heat. 40% of this pot has become barren.
00:32 We sweat a lot, we have aches everywhere and we're exhausted.
00:36 Before sleeping, I take paracetamol, but the next morning I still feel fatigued.
00:41 It's so hot. I take a muscle relaxer before starting work,
00:46 and we have to work more because we have to water our crops more."
00:54 The country's hospitals are overwhelmed by hundreds of patients due to extreme heat.
00:59 The symptoms are the same - dehydration, nausea, dizziness and extreme fatigue.
01:05 This 70-year-old man fell ill after going out to run errands.
01:10 "I had heart problems before.
01:13 When the heat came, the pain increased.
01:17 We will give you some medicine.
01:19 You will be fine, God willing."
01:21 As our country is poor, most people cannot afford proper facilities like air conditioning.
01:31 And this situation adds a burden to the health sector.
01:33 With each stroke, already overloaded hospitals come under more stress.
01:39 The dangerous heat is a daily challenge for a large number of Pakistanis.
01:43 One-fifth of the population lives under the poverty line.
01:46 "We don't have running water.
01:52 It only comes for a few hours a day and we store it in buckets and jerry cans."
01:56 "It's very hard, especially at night.
02:02 Often I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and suffocating.
02:05 I have to go outside to get some fresh air.
02:08 I don't have money to buy an air conditioner or even pay for its electricity cost."
02:11 Pakistan is not yet done with extreme heat.
02:15 Two more heat waves are expected to hit the country in the coming weeks.