Hundreds of people have died in India's heat wave

A heat wave in India has killed more than 700 people in less than a week.

Over the past few days, 550 people have died in Andhra Pradesh, a southeastern state, alone. In the state of Telangana, another 215 people have died. Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state of Odisha, has marked a 10-year high of 45 degrees Celsius, or about 113 degrees.

Officials say the heat wave is thanks to winds bringing dry heat from Pakistan's Sindh province into India. The India Meteorological Department expects the heat wave to continue for at least another two days, and it could be a week before India gets any rain.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The heat wave is worst for the poor and homeless, as well as construction workers completing outdoor projects, CNN reports. And only a third of India's population has electricity, so turning on the air conditioning isn't an option for most people.