KARACHI, Pakistan — Karachi’s poor have long learned to cope with the many adversities that afflict¹ Pakistan’s most crowded and chaotic² city, including flooding, street violence and political crises. But since a suffocating³ heat wave descended⁴ on Karachi three days ago, killing⁵ at least 650 people, they have found no respite⁶ and no escape.

巴基斯坦卡拉奇——对于困扰这座巴基斯坦最拥挤、最混乱的城市的各种灾难，比如洪水、街头暴力和政治危机，卡拉奇的穷人们早就学会了如何应对。然而，一股令人窒息的热浪在三天前袭来，至今已导致至少650人死亡。这一状况没有得到任何缓解，令他们无路可逃。

“It’s so hot,” said a security guard, Shamim ur-Rehman, 34, as he sat on a cot, beleaguered⁷. “There is no fan, there is nothing. I can’t sleep at night or during the day.”

“太热了，”34岁的保安沙米姆·拉赫曼(Shamim ur-Rehman)说。他坐在一张行军床上，备受炎热困扰。“没有风扇，什么都没有，白天晚上都睡不着。”

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared an emergency on Tuesday as the death toll⁸ from the heat wave soared, with overwhelmed hospitals struggling to treat a surge of casualties and morgues filling to capacity. The army set up emergency treatment centers in the streets and the provincial⁹ government closed schools and city offices.

高温引发的死亡人数在急剧上升，各大医院疲于应对大批涌入的伤员，太平间也已经达到人数上限。在这样的形势下，巴基斯坦总理纳瓦兹·谢里夫(Nawaz Sharif)于周二宣布进入紧急状态。军队在街道上搭建急救场所，当地的省级政府下令学校停课，市政办公场所停业。

The Edhi foundation, which runs an ambulance service and Karachi’s largest morgue, said it had collected over 600 bodies in recent days.

拥有卡拉奇最大的停尸房、并提供救护车服务的艾德希基金会(Edhi foundation)表示，他们在最近几天已经接收了600多具尸体。

“The first to die were the people on the streets — heroin¹⁰ addicts¹¹, beggars, the homeless,” said Anwar Kazmi, a spokesman for the service. “Then it was the elderly, particularly those who didn’t have anyone to take care of them.”

基金会的发言人安瓦尔·卡兹米(Anwar Kazmi)表示，“最早死亡的是在街头生活的人——海洛因成瘾者、乞丐和无家可归的人。然后是老年人，尤其是那些没人照顾的。”

In many ways, the emergency is the product of a perfect storm of meteorological, political and religious factors in Karachi.

从许多方面讲，这场危机是卡拉奇的气象、政治和宗教因素共同促成的一场完美风暴带来的后果。

Chronic¹² shortages of water and electricity have exacerbated¹³ the impact of the heat wave, which has brought temperatures up to 45 Celsius¹⁴, or 113 degrees Fahrenheit¹⁵, in a crowded city of 20 million people that is normally ventilated by a seabreeze.

热浪使得气温最高达到摄氏45度，而长期缺水缺电加剧了这种天气的影响。在这座人口达2000万的拥挤城市里，通风基本只能靠海风吹。

The health dangers are further exacerbated by the demands of the annual Ramadan fast, when most Muslims abstain¹⁶ from eating or drinking water during daylight hours.

此时正值一年一度的斋月期间，大部分穆斯林会在白天戒食禁水。这也加重了高温天气带来的健康威胁。

In Karachi, that means about 15 hours with no source of hydration — a factor that has particularly affected¹⁷ manual laborers¹⁹ and street vendors²¹, who work outside under the sun.

在卡拉奇，斋月意味着15小时没有任何水源补充。这尤其影响到在户外日头下工作的体力劳动者和街头商贩。

Dr. Seemin Jamali, head of the Jinnah hospital’s emergency wing, said 272 people had died there from heat-related conditions, including dehydration²². The smaller Abbasi Shaheed Hospital said 56 bodies had been brought in since Monday night.

真纳(Jinnah)医院急诊部主任思敏·贾马里(Seemin Jamali)表示，该院有272名病人死于与高温有关的状况，其中包括脱水。规模较小的阿巴西·沙希德医院(Abbasi Shaheed Hospital)则表示，自周一晚上以来该院已收入56具尸体。

Officials said the majority of the victims were men over the age of 50, especially day laborers from lower-income groups.

卡拉奇官员表示，大部分受害者是50岁以上的男性，尤其是来自低收入群体的日间劳工。

Although Karachi residents are used to dealing²³ with other emergencies — stockpiling groceries, for example, during bouts²⁴ of street violence — they seemed at a loss for how to manage the extended heat wave.

尽管卡拉奇居民习惯于应对其他各种紧急情况——比如他们会在时常出现的街头暴乱期间囤积日常用品——但是面对不断加剧的高温，他们似乎有些不知所措。

The electricity shortages are the product of decades-long mismanagement of Pakistan’s national grid²⁵, and are often worse at dusk when many people are cooking in preparation for the end of the fast.

缺电是巴基斯坦国家电网几十年来管理不善的后果，而且通常在傍晚时分，很多人结束斋戒开始做饭的时候会更加严重。

Not only do the power cuts make air-conditioning units and ceiling fans useless, they also reduce the water supply by shutting down pumps. Ice is in short supply and being sold for a premium²⁶ in many neighborhoods.

停电不仅会使空调设备和电扇瘫痪，还会因为电泵无法工作而导致供水减少。在很多社区，冰块因为短缺都会被加价出售。

“We try and sit in the shade,” said Mohammad Yusuf, 32, a laborer¹⁸ who works on a moving crew with a pickup²⁷ truck. “We went all the way near the port today and sat under a tree for three hours.”

“我们尽量坐在阴凉里，”32岁的穆罕默德·优素福(Mohammad Yusuf)说，他跟随一个搬运队乘皮卡车四处做活。“我们今天一路开到港口附近，在一棵树下坐了三个小时。”

At the Jinnah hospital, Dr. Jamali said her staff had treated over 5,000 patients between Saturday and Monday. The heat, not the fasting, was the principal factor in the deaths, she said.

在真纳医院，贾马里表示，从周六到周一，她的员工已经接治了5000多名患者。她说，最重要的致死因素是这一波热浪，而不是斋戒。

Although many continued to fast, others quietly admitted that they were unable to cope with the demands of their faith. Subah Sadiq, a fruit vendor²⁰ and father of seven, said it was impossible to stand in the street all day without drinking anything.

尽管有很多人继续禁食，但其他一些人暗地里承认，他们无法承受信仰的要求。苏巴·萨迪克(Subah Sadiq)是一名卖水果的摊贩，也是七个孩子的父亲。他说，一整天都站在街上却什么都不喝是不可能的。

“This is the only way to survive,” he said.

“这是唯一的活路，”他说。

Even for those not fasting, staying hydrated is a challenge: under Pakistani law, eating and drinking in public places are illegal during Ramadan, although some clerics said their followers²⁸ could break the fast if their health was in danger.

即便是对那些不禁食的人来说，保持不脱水也是一个挑战：按照巴基斯坦的法律，斋月期间在公共场所吃喝是违法的，不过一些神职人员称，如果健康存在危险，信徒可以违反斋戒的规定。

Mr. Rehman, the building watchman, was refusing to give up.

大楼保安拉赫曼不愿放弃斋戒。

“As long as I have some life in me, and strong intentions, I will fast,” he said.

“只要还有些力气和强烈的意愿，我就会斋戒，”他说。