Scorching heat wave subsides in southern Pakistan but death toll still climbing, reaches 860

Pakistani volunteers collect donations to help heatstroke victims in Karachi, Pakistan, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. A cool wind from the sea and pre-monsoon rains brought the first signs of respite to southern Pakistan on Wednesday as the death toll from a scorching heat wave climbed to over 800, a high figure even for a nation accustomed to sizzling hot summers. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) (The Associated Press)

A man pours water on a girl to cool off outside a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, June 25, 2015. The devastating heat wave that struck southern Pakistan last weekend is slowly subsiding but the toll was still climbing Thursday, a senior health official said. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) (The Associated Press)

A Pakistani child who is suffering from dehydration due to extreme weather admitted at a local hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, June 25, 2015. The devastating heat wave that struck southern Pakistan last weekend is slowly subsiding but the toll was still climbing Thursday, a senior health official said. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) (The Associated Press)

A Pakistani health official says the devastating heat wave that struck the country last weekend is slowly subsiding but that the death toll is still climbing, with 860 people now reported to have died.

Jam Mehtab Hussain, the provincial health minister in the southern Sindh province, says people are still being admitted to hospitals with heat-related ailments — though in less numbers than in previous days, when dehydrated patients lay in hospital corridors and outside on the streets as overwhelmed medical staff struggled to cope with the disaster.

Husain says temperatures on Thursday dropped to 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in Karachi, worst hit by the heat wave.

On Sunday, temperatures had reached 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.