No fridge, no fans, just blocks of ice: improvising to survive in Pakistan’s searing heat

With limited electricity and poor ventilation, many families in Nasirabad have little to shield them from temperatures of up to 50C

As the first light reaches Nasirabad, a queue of men, women and children has already formed outside the town’s ice factory, with their buckets, sacks and plastic containers. Among those hoping to buy some ice to help their families endure another scorching day is 12-year-old Taimoor, in his school uniform. He says it is his most important task of the day.

“If I do not bring the ice, how will we endure the heat at home?” he says. “And how will we drink water that feels as though it is boiling?”