HYDERABAD, India (AP) – Eating onions, lying in the shade and crowding into rivers, Indians are doing whatever they can to stay cool amid a brutal heat wave that has killed more than 1,400 in the past month.
Officials say most of the 1,412 deaths have occurred in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where temperatures have soared to 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit).
Officials are warning people to stay out of the sun, cover their heads and drink water. Doctors were on alert Thursday for heat-related illness, while volunteers were distributing salted buttermilk or raw onions – both thought to be hydrating.
Meteorological officials say the heat will likely continue for several more days, warping roads, scorching crops and endangering construction workers, farmers and anyone else laboring outdoors.