KARACHI: On Tuesday morning, Mohammad Nasir Jamil at the counter window of the Edhi Foundation’s mortuary at Sohrab Goth reported receiving over 100 bodies since the previous night.

“It is getting worse. Yesterday around this time we had 80 plus bodies and the day before that it was 60 plus. The number of bodies is increasing by each day as the weather gets worse,” he told Dawn.

Faisal Edhi said that in all they have received 427 bodies in the last four days. “I am no doctor so I will not comment about the actual cause of death of these people but the majority of them hail from poor localities where there is power loadshedding for extended hours,” he said.

There is capacity for 200 bodies at the Edhi mortuary at Sohrab Goth, while their Lyari and Korangi mortuaries have an equal capacity for 32 bodies each. And all are filled to capacity. “So much so that we are forced to keep three bodies on one shelf. We also had to send 22 unclaimed bodies for burial earlier than usual to make space. And it is not just us facing a shortage of space for bodies. Other mortuaries, even at mosques and imambargahs are facing a similar situation,” he said.

Our morgues received 427 bodies in past four days, says Faisal Edhi

There to collect the body of his brother-in-law, one young man says that the deceased, not more than 40 years of age, was a garment factory worker who collapsed from dizziness brought on by extreme heat. “Unfortunately, when he fell he hit his head on the hard floor and expired,” he said.

A nephew had come to collect the body of his aged uncle who passed away from the heat when his place in Gulshan-i-Iqbal was without electricity for hours.

Two gentlemen outside the Chippa mortuary at Abyssinia Lines said that they had brought the body of their 63-year-old uncle. “He owned a shop in Saddar where he suddenly felt quite unwell. We rushed him to hospital where he was diagnosed with heatstroke and was administered a drip before being sent home. But early this morning he was sick again. He passed away on the way to hospital,” one nephew said.

“Initially, we approached a mortuary on Jamshed Road, which didn’t have space. So we have brought him here now because it is so hot that we don’t want to hold the janaza before Asr when the temperatures are tolerable somewhat,” he said.

A couple of men were there to collect the remains of their 50-year-old uncle. “He was looking exhausted since Eidul Azha. He had taken charge of all the family’s animals then,” one of them informed. Yesterday, when he looked really down we took him to hospital where we were told that he was suffering from heatstroke. He looked slightly better after receiving some treatment for it. But he passed away this morning,” he added.

Two young men with wet eyes were taking care of things for their older brother, 40. “There was a two-hour power loadshedding in Shireen Jinnah Colony yesterday. He has been bewildered and disoriented since. And today he collapsed. His wife and children are back in Punjab. He was working as a labourer here,” informed one of them.

Citizens of Karachi are getting the brunt of global warming and climate change and things don’t seem to be moving towards betterment. Life is precious. Life is also fragile. Coffins don’t say ‘fragile: handle with care’ because the time for doing that is way past.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2024