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A historic heat wave has been ravaging South and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, for several days. The heat is very difficult to bear in that poor, overcrowded and very humid country. And it is expected to continue for several more days.
With RFI correspondent Sébastien Farcis and AFP
The Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, had never experienced such temperatures in almost 60 years. The April monsoon has been slow to arrive in Bangladesh, so the country of 170 million people is boiling.
more than 40 degrees
The record heat, over 40 degrees in the capital, combined with high humidity can be deadly for humans. Few houses have air conditioning. Employees stay in the office as long as possible to keep cool, while the bulk of the population, who make a living from odd jobs outside, like street vendors or bricklayers, suffer terribly.
In Dhaka, the heat is especially scorching. In this overcrowded urban monster of 20 million people, concrete has replaced trees and waterways, creating a huge heat island. During the day, many find refuge in the mosques and sleep lying on the cool marble. The most devout even gathered by the hundreds on Monday in the open air to pray and beg for rain.
Several dead
But Bangladesh is not the only country affected by this exceptional heat wave. In India, 13 people died of heat stroke on Sunday during an open-air ceremony in the west of the country. Thailand has reported two deaths. The kingdom’s weather service said temperatures hit a record 44.6 degrees Celsius in the western province of Tak on April 15, warning that such weather would continue into next week.
“This year’s record heat in Thailand, China and South Asia is clearly a climate trend and will pose public health challenges for years to come,” said Fahad Saeed, a researcher at the Pakistan-based Climate Analytics Institute.
