Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority has activated nationwide emergency protocols and placed hospitals on high alert after temperatures in Karachi climbed to 44.1°C on Monday — the city's highest reading since 2018 and 7.8°C above the seasonal average — with at least 10 people found dead across the city, most of them unidentified and believed to be homeless individuals. Residents already enduring water shortages were further strained by power outages lasting up to 16 hours, while students sitting intermediate and O-Level examinations faced disruptions as blackouts hit examination centres. Authorities have been directed to establish heatstroke treatment centres, stockpile emergency supplies, and monitor glaciated areas in northern Pakistan where the heat raises the risk of glacial lake outburst floods; temperatures are expected to ease slightly this week before potentially rising again after mid-May.