"We can't even guess what the temperature will be, since all of our predicting equipment mysteriously burst into flames."
Karachi is a city sharply segregated by class. Upper- and middle-class people tend to stay in their districts, while the poor and working-class stick to theirs. Naturally, the heat wave hit the working-class and poorer districts hardest, due to the lack of AC.
"The general masses only became aware of the deaths via the media," Taha explained. "Of course everyone notices the heat (ACs, especially those in cars, need to be turned up to 11. Also people do have to travel to and fro, so the heat is noticed even when its brunt isn't borne). The initial death toll started off with a figure of less than 20 on the television, and then kept on rising as time went by."
The authorities were aware of the deaths, but did virtually nothing in the early days of the heat wave because, and we're paraphrasing here, "Oof, it's too hot out there."
"Sorry, but I don't work if the temperature is higher than my bowling average."
"Of course the authorities are notified when people die of a heat stroke in a hospital or are being treated of such. So pinpointing the exact time the 'authorities' found out is impossible -- especially since the 'authorities' are three layers of government and an entire plethora of bureaucracy to boot."
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