Heat kills more than 50 people in India in three days

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. More than 50 people have died in India over the past three days as a brutal heat spell continues to grip parts of the country, BBC reports.

Around 33 people diedin the northern state of Uttar Pradesh over the weekend due to the heat.

These included people involved in the general election, including polling officials, security guards and sanitation staff - Saturday was the last phase of voting.

In Odisha (Orissa) state, about 20 people died dueto heat stroke, officials said.

The federal health ministry says that there have been at least 56 confirmedheat strokes deaths from 1 March to 30 May. About 24,849 heatstroke cases were reported during the period.

However, according to BBC, state-wise figures suggest the actual number could be much higher.

In Odisha, district authorities reported99 suspected heat stroke deathsin the past 72 hours - of these, 20 cases have been confirmed, the state's Special Relief Commissioner said in a statement.

In Uttar Pradesh, Navdeep Rinwa, chief electoral officer of the state, told reporters that the families of deceased election personnel would be given a monetary compensation of 1.5m rupees ($18,000; £14,000).

The heat in northern and central India and parts of the west has been unrelenting for the past two weeks, with maximum temperatures hovering around 45-46C for days at a stretch and even climbing up to 50C in some areas, BBC adds.

However, India's weather department says that temperatures are likely to fall in the coming days due to the onset on the monsoon.