New Delhi, Jun 18 (EFE).- At least 54 people have died in northern India in the last three days supposedly due to heat related issues, Indian health system officials said on Sunday.

Most of those were over 60 years with chronic diseases that were complicated due to high temperatures, prolonged sun exposure or dehydration, the superintendent’s office of Ballia District hospital in Uttar Pradesh – where the deaths were recorded – told EFE.

According to a statement issued by the district health department, 23 patients died Thursday, 11 Friday and another ten people died Saturday, the superintendent’s office said.

The number of patients with symptoms of dehydration, dizziness, nausea, among others, has been on the rise in recent days, most of them day laborers or people with comorbidities, said the health center.

Some 154 people have been admitted to the hospital with heat-related symptoms, and in the case of deaths “there are many different causes, especially in the case of people with chronic medical conditions,” the hospital’s superintendent, SK Yadav, told reporters.

The region’s Additional Health Director BP Tiwari said in a press release that there was an increase in deaths of people over the age of 60, although a group of experts would be required to ascertain the causes.

The average maximum temperature in Ballia has remained between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius in the last few days.

According to a study published in 2021 by Indian meteorologists, more than 17,000 people died in the last 50 years due to extreme weather events, such as heat waves. EFE

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