LAHORE - At least six drug addicts expired in different parts of the provincial metropolis, as temperature swelled to 43 degree Celsius on Saturday, police and rescue workers said.
Hospital officials say they believe the deaths of drug addicts occurred because of sizzling weather. The police and Edhi ambulance service workers recovered six dead bodies of drug addicts from footpaths or roads located in Bhaati Gate, Shadbagh, Lower Mall, Old Anarkali, Mughalpura, and Nawan Kot police precincts.
According to police, a 32-year-old man was found dead under mysterious from Shadbagh. Some passersby spotted the body lying alongside Amir Road and contacted the police by phone. The Edhi ambulance service shifted the body to the Mayo Hospital’s morgue.
Police officer Ghulam Mustafa said that the man, unidentified so far, was lying dead as they reached the spot. He believed the accused was a drug addict.
Similarly, a 45-year-old drug addict was found dead from a road in Nawan Kot police precincts. The Mughalpura, Bhaati Gate, Old Anarkali, and Lower Mall police also recovered four dead bodies of drug addicts from their jurisdiction.
The Edhi ambulance service shifted the bodies to the morgue. Police are yet to ascertain the identities of the dead.
Medical experts say that several poor people particularly narcotics addicts die at the height of summer every year in the provincial metropolis, but this year's figures are alarming since six people were found dead on a single day on Saturday.
A leading physician Dr Rauf while talking to The Nation said that because of unwise and excessive use of drugs, the organs of addicts don’t work properly. “They are vulnerable in harsh weather conditions and also lacked immunity.”
Medical experts also suggested the authorities to shift the drug addicts to rehabilitation centers on urgent basis to save their lives as they are more vulnerable in prolonged drought condition in the days ahead.