India’s ‘King of Bollywood’ is ‘doing well’ after heatstroke hospitalization reports
By Rhea Mogul, CNN
(CNN) — Shah Rukh Khan’s manager has said India’s “King of Bollywood” is recovering well after reports he was hospitalized with heatstroke, as parts of the country swelter during a weeks-long general election.
The 58-year-old superstar was admitted for treatment on Wednesday in the city of Ahmedabad in western Gujarat state, police told local reporters. Maximum temperatures there climbed to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) this week.
“To all of Mr Khan’s fans and well wishers – he is doing well. Thank you for your love, prayers and concern,” his manager Pooja Dadlani wrote on X on Thursday.
Khan “was admitted to K D Hospital after suffering from a heat stroke,” the Press Trust of India reported Wednesday, citing Ahmedabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Jat. Video broadcast by a local news agency showed Khan’s wife, Gauri, arriving at the hospital on Thursday morning to visit him.
CNN has contacted KD Hospital for comment.
Also known as “King Khan,” the actor has near-demigod status in India, having starred in more than 90 movies and earned multiple accolades. He received India’s fourth-highest civilian honor in 2005, and a spot on Time magazine’s 100 most influential list in 2022.
Khan was in Ahmedabad to attend an Indian Premier League cricket match between the Kolkata Knight Riders, a team he co-owns, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
His hospitalization comes as heatwave conditions continue to engulf parts of the country, causing illness and forcing some schools to shut, as temperatures once again rise to levels that threaten human limits of survivability.
Temperatures soared beyond 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in various cities in the north this week, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which has issued a warning for a “severe heatwave” in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and the capital territory of Delhi.
Authorities in Delhi this week ordered schools to shut early for the summer holidays after temperatures hit 47.4 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit), while Barmer city in Rajasthan recorded a maximum temperature of 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, according to the IMD.
Temperatures are expected to remain high for the next few days, it said.
The severe heat comes as the nation of 1.4 billion people carries out a national election. Delhi, a city of more than 11 million, will head to the polls on Sunday.
The country often experiences heatwaves during the summer months of May and June, but in recent years they have arrived earlier and become more prolonged. Experts say the climate crisis is only going to cause more frequent and longer heatwaves in the future, testing India’s ability to adapt.
India is among the countries expected to be worst affected by the climate crisis, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, threatening its development while risking reversing its progress on poverty alleviation, health and economic growth.
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