Heat wave has claimed no fewer than 21 lives and sent 66 others to hospitals in Cairo and other parts of Egypt. The country’s ministry of health announced today that temperatures and high humidity has been soaring.
The victims, who all died yesterday, were said to have succumbed as temperatures soared as high as 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit), in conditions made less bearable by elevated humidity levels.
Fifteen people died in Cairo, four in the Delta province of Qalibiya and two in Upper Egypt’s Qena province, the ministry said in a statement. Those who died, including seven women, were all aged over 60.
Sixty-six people were admitted to hospital after suffering from exhaustion, including 37 who are still under observation.
“There is a big rise in temperature compared with previous years. But the problem is the humidity which is affecting people more,” said the ministry’s spokesman, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar.
“Long exposure under the sun is a killer.”
Meteorological officials confirmed that temperatures in the capital and some parts of the country were higher than average.
“The temperature is higher by four to five degrees than what is usually seen, and the humidity is very high this month,” Waheed Soudi, head of analysis in the Egyptian Meteorological Authority said.
“The peak temperature in the shade was 38 degrees Celsius in Cairo on Sunday, which means it was 47 degrees under the sun or in places with bad ventilation.”
Although it is not uncommon to see summer temperatures in the high 30s throughout Egypt, it is rare for humidity levels to remain elevated during excessively hot weather. [myad]
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