BANGKOK, Thailand — Heatstroke has killed 61 people in Thailand so far this year, mor e than in all of 2023, the health ministry said on Friday after weeks of scorching weather across the region.
A wave of exceptionally hot weather blasted Thailand in recent weeks, prompting authorities to issue warnings about scorching hot weather on a near-daily basis.
The health ministry said Friday that 61 people have died from heatstroke since the beginning of 2024, compared with 37 in the whole of 2023.
Thailand’s northeast — the agricultural heartland — saw the highest number of deaths, the ministry said.
Scientists have long warned human-induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and more intense heatwaves.
While the El Nino phenomenon is helping driv e this year’s exceptionally warm weather, Asia is also warming faster than the global average, according to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization.
Apichart Vachiraphan, deputy of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, warned people with underlying medical conditions to limit their time outdoors.
The kingdom this year experienced a delay in its monsoon season, with sweltering hot weather lasting longer than normal.
Storms have hit parts of the kingdom this week, lowering temperatures but bringing warnings from the authorities of potential flash flooding.
In April, the kingdom recorded a temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius (111.6 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded in the northern province of Lampang — just shy of the all-time national record of 44.6C hit last year.
COTABATO CITY — A 45-year-old man charged for ten rape and statutory rape cases in Bukidnon province has been traced and arrested in Pagadian City early this week.
Radio reports here on Friday morning quoted Brig. Gen Bowenn Joey Masauding, director of the Police Regional Office-9, as saying that the 45-year-old Jimmy Sotto Balaba, wanted for multiple rape offenses in Bukidnon province in Region 10, was arrested in Barangay Tuburan in Pagadian City, the capital of Zamboanga del Sur.
The suspect, who hails from Malaybalay City in Bukidnon, is facing 10 rape and statutory rape cases pending at the Regional Trial Court Branch 45 in Malaybalay City.
Balaba yielded peacefully when combined operatives from the Bukidnon Provincial Police Office and PRO-9 arrived at a house in Barangay Tuburan in Pagadian City where he stayed for a long time and showed him copies of warrants for his arrest from the RTC Branch 45.
Masauding said the court has not recommended any bail for the temporary release of Balaban.
He was reportedly brought back to Malaybalay City by a police team after his arrest.