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Heat wave kills 3 in southeastern Botswana

Xinhua, January 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Three people were killed in Botswana by an unprecedented strong heat wave from Thursday to Friday, government officials said Friday.

The three, two men aged 54 and 56 and a 90-year-old woman, died at a hospital after they showed heat wave symptoms, including high body temperatures, breathing difficulties and a lack of consciousness, Botswana Health Ministry spokesperson Doreen Motshegwa told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

Yet a postmortem will be carried out to verify the cause of their deaths.

The hospital, located in the village of Ramotswa in southeast Botswana, had received seven patients, including three children and four elders, who had respiratory system problems and hot skin, according to a government statement.

The Department of Meteorological Services forecast on Monday that temperatures were expected to reach between 40 and 43 degrees Celsius on Thursday and Friday.

In some areas, the heat wave was anticipated to break the highest temperature of 43.3 degrees Celsius recorded in the capital city of Gaborone in 1944. Endi