Monsoon showers bring relief to southern and eastern parts of India while northern areas and neighboring Pakistan remain dangerously hot.
The intense pre-monsoon heat wave that has baked much of the Indian subcontinent for two months claimed an additional 156 lives in India and Pakistan, raising this season's heat-related death toll to at least 340.
Hundreds more were hospitalized with heat stroke and intestinal illness as temperatures soared to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in some areas.
Related power outages due to increased demand for air conditioning sparked several demonstrations from angry people frustrated with power providers.
Around Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, residents blocked roads with burning tires and pelted police vans with stones.
Meteorologists promised that relief was in sight with the mercury set to drop within the following week as the monsoon pushes north.
India's annual season of heat and dust begins in late April and lasts until the southwest monsoon usually brings cooling rains by late June.
Photo: Earthbrowser