Sweltering heat, suffocation and drowning claimed another 10 lives on Friday on the second day of annual 759th Urs celebrations of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar amidst poor arrangements of the Mela for the three days at Sehwan.

This brings the total number of devotees to 28 during the two days. The 10 deceased were among thousands of followers, who visited the shrine to pay homage to Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and participated in the Mela.

Devotees, belonging to every walk of life, came here from across the country and most of them hailed from Punjab. Mehraj, incharge of Edhi Centre Sehwan told our sources that 26-year old Ali Asghar from Gilgit and 24-year old Ishaque from Vehari and another six unidentified men were killed due to the scorching heat, while 18-year old Mohammad Qasim from Karachi drowned in the canal near the shrine and another unknown person was killed in a train accident.

He said that the bodies of all identified deceased persons were handed over to their relatives. Another seven were dead whose identification could not be ascertained, were laid to rest by Edhi volunteers at Sehwan due to the lack of cold mortuary or storage for dead bodies here.

Devotees complained that arrangements of the Mela were extremely poor and there was an acute shortage of drinking water and food facilities. A glass of water was priced at Rs12, while a plate of Daal was being sold at Rs80. However, owing to the unhygienic food stalls, people also suffered from gastroenteritis and other abdominal diseases as well.

 The Deputy Comissioner Jamshoro was not available for comment despite continuous calls made to him.