24-year-old Bengal student dies of heatstroke, marking first heat-related death at Delhi's RML

While RML has recorded the death as being caused by heatstroke, official confirmation from the Delhi health department is still awaited

A 24-year-old student from West Bengal has become the first person to die of severe heat-related illness at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital this summer, according to hospital officials.

While the student was the first person admitted to RML with heatstroke symptoms this season, hospital officials said three or four more patients had been admitted to the Heat Stroke Unit since May 20. (HT Archive)

The student, who was admitted in critical condition after falling ill while travelling on a train, died on May 25 after suffering multiple organ failure, hospital officials said. While RML has recorded the death as being caused by heatstroke, official confirmation from the Delhi health department is still awaited.

The patient was brought unconscious to the hospital’s emergency department on the intervening night of May 20 and 21, hospital officials said.

“The male student was brought to the hospital at around 1.45 am on Thursday after he fell seriously ill while travelling on a train. He was brought in by his sister with a body temperature in excess of 105°F. He presented with vomiting, faecal incontinence, altered sensorium and a very high temperature,” Dr Ajay Chauhan, professor of internal medicine at RML Hospital, had said on May 21.

“Immersion cooling was instituted immediately. At the time, there were no known pre-existing health conditions, and most other differential diagnoses had been ruled out,” an official at the hospital said, requesting anonymity.

On Monday, hospital officials confirmed the student’s death.

“After receiving initial immersion cooling therapy, the patient was shifted to the ICU and remained critical for a couple of days. However, his condition suddenly deteriorated and, due to multiple organ failure, he succumbed on May 25 at 8.50 pm. Officially, we have recorded heatstroke as the cause of death,” the official said.

While the student was the first person admitted to RML with heatstroke symptoms this season, hospital officials said three or four more patients had been admitted to the Heat Stroke Unit since May 20.

“Of them, some recovered and were discharged, while others left the hospital against medical advice. So far, we have recorded only one death,” the official said, adding that the most recent case was admitted on Saturday.

“The hospital received a 19-year-old male patient on Saturday at 3.10 am with symptoms of heatstroke. The patient, a daily-wage worker, was brought to the hospital with a high fever, nausea and other signs of heat-related illness. He was given immersion cooling therapy, following which he was shifted to the ward. His condition is currently improving,” the official said.

Heatstroke occurs when the body is no longer able to regulate its temperature and the sweating mechanism that helps cool the body fails. Heat exhaustion, meanwhile, is a condition in which the body overheats but continues sweating.

Doctors say heatstroke can prove fatal due to the failure of vital organs. When the body’s core temperature exceeds 40°C (104°F), extreme heat can damage cellular proteins and cell walls, triggering complications across multiple organ systems.

Heatstroke deaths are primarily recorded by state health departments through government hospitals and the Civil Registration System and are compiled at the national level by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) under the Union health ministry.

HT reached out to Delhi health minister Pankaj Singh for a comment, but did not get a response.