Daily Times

At least 16 devotees of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar have reportedly died of heatstroke in Sehwan city during the past four days.

As the mercury rose to 45 degree Celsius in the city, a number of devotees taking part in the annual urs of the Sufi saint fell unconscious and were rushed to various medical camps.

Sarwar Shaikh, the in-charge of Edhi Center in Sehwan Sharif, said death toll had reached 16, and added that all bodies had been dispatched for their native town through Edhi ambulances.

He said the dead included 26-year-old Javaid, son of Shah Mohammad and a resident of Lahore and 60-year-old Mohammad Zaffar, a resident of Multan, who died on Thursday, the second day of the urs celebrations.

He said that 49-year-old Abdul Razak of Attock, 50-year-old Ghulam Mustafa of Deeparcha near Moro, 60-year-old Zamir Shah of Gujrat, 50-year-old Syed Qamar Ali Shah of Dera Ismail Khan, 42-year-old Haji Khan of Khairpur Nathan Shah, 80-year-old Nawab Khatoon of Khairpur and 54-year-old Karam Shah of Sargodha had died on Wednesday, the first day of the urs.

He said that 45-year-old Sajid Ali of Faisalabad and 48-year-old Sakhawat Ali of Multan had died on Tuesday, while 45-year-old Mohammad Ali of Rato Deero, 45-year-old Meer Zadi Khatoon of Dadu city, 32-year-old Mohammad Aqil of Khanewal and 40-year-old Mohammad Saddiq of Phulji station had passed away due to heatstroke on Monday. He also said that there were serious complaints of load shedding and shortage of clean drinking water at the shrine of the Sufi saint. On the other hand, Dr Moeen Siddiqui, the director of Syed Abdullah Shah Institute of Health Sciences, Sehwan, on Thursday said that no person had died of heat stroke in Sehwan in the last two days. He said that seven persons were brought dead from different areas of Sehwan city. He said that when they were examined, the cause of death was found to be heart attack and liver failure.

Meanwhile, the shrine’s caretaker, Syed Wali Mohammad Shah, said the deaths had occurred due to lack of arrangements for the urs on part of the Sehwan Sharif mella committee and the district administration.