Eleven people died from heatstroke in India at an awards ceremony attended by an estimated one million people under the scorching sun, authorities said Monday.
The office of the chief minister of Maharashtra (West) state, Eknath Shinde, reported a “sad and disturbing incident”, promising compensation to the victims’ relatives.
According to local media, 20 people were hospitalized and 300 fell ill during the “civil award” ceremony held on Sunday near Bombay (West) in temperatures of nearly 38 degrees and in an extremely humid atmosphere.
Indian government officials attended, including Home Minister Amit Shah, who thanked the audience for waiting so long under the scorching sun.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s ruling party, had around one million participants in the event, reported the ‘Indian Express’ newspaper.
The Congress party, the main opposition force, has accused the government of negligence and demanded a criminal investigation.
Heatwaves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010. Last year broke several temperature records in the country.
Due to the high temperatures, schools and colleges were closed in West (East) Bengal state from Monday for a week, as decided by the authorities, according to local media.
