Two people died in India’s southern state of Kerala reportedly due to the prevailing heat wave conditions, with the mercury hitting 42 degrees Celsius.
The heat wave is nearly 5 degrees Celsius above normal during this time of year.
According to local media, the two people died of sunstroke because of the extreme heat wave.
One of the deceased was identified as a 90-year-old woman, and the other was a 53-year-old man.
Officially, it was not yet confirmed if the deaths occurred as a result of heatstroke.
“The real cause of death shall be known after conducting the due medical processes,” said Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose, a senior official at the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA).
Kuriakose added, “The postmortem on both deceased persons has been done.
“The final reports are awaited.
“We will confirm deaths due to heatstroke only after we receive the postmortem reports.
“It might take a day or two.”
Entire south India, including the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, and the eastern state of Odisha, were suffering from heat wave conditions in the past few days.
Meanwhile, the KSDMA said that a thunderstorm with light-to-moderate rainfall and gusty winds with speeds up to 40 km per hour is likely to hit several places in Kerala’s districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam.