Although several people died during the intense heat wave, dozens of deaths in one day represent an especially grim toll.
At least 33 Indian poll workers died on the final day of voting due to heatstroke in just one state, a senior election official said, after scorching temperatures hit swaths of the country.
Navdeep Rinwa, chief electoral officer of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where voting in the seventh and final phase of the election ended on Saturday, said 33 poll workers had died due to the heat.
The number included security guards and sanitation staff.
“Monetary compensation of 1.5 million rupees [$18,000] will be provided to the families of the deceased,” Rinwa told reporters on Sunday.
While there have been reports of multiple deaths due to the intense heat wave – with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in many locations – the dozens of employees who died in one day represent an especially grim toll.
Rinwa reported a separate incident in which a man queuing to vote in the town of Ballia lost consciousness. “The voter was transported to a health facility, where he was pronounced dead on arrival,” he said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said temperatures in the city of Jhansi reached 46.9C (116F) on Saturday. Indian media reports said the heat index rose to an alarming 61C in Ballia on Saturday.
The Hindustan Times newspaper reported that a total of 58 people died from heat exposure across the country on Saturday, with deaths also reported in the neighboring states of Bihar, Odisha in the east and the central states of Madhya Pradesh.
Bihar saw at least 10 election-related deaths on Saturday, the newspaper said, adding that the number could rise, according to an official. In Odisha, at least nine people died due to heat on Saturday, taking the two-day death toll to 54.
Experts say that when a person is dehydrated, extreme exposure to heat thickens the blood and causes organ failure.
India is no stranger to scorching summer temperatures. But years of scientific research have found that climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
Meanwhile, exit polls on Saturday night predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would win a rare third consecutive term and would likely be re-elected with a strong majority, winning the majority of seats in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. Indian.
Nearly a billion Indians were registered to vote in the massive seven-phase elections that were organized over six weeks and concluded on Saturday night.
Votes will be counted on Tuesday and final results are expected to be announced by the end of the day.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
