As India’s Heat Soars, News Anchor Faints on Live TV
The heat got to the TV hostess while on camera.
In a rare and unusual incident, a Doordarshan TV news anchor lost consciousness while on the air. The irony was that Mrs. Lopamudra Sinha was delivering a report from Kolkata’s DD studio on the heat waves across the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, when she fainted. According to a Facebook post she put up afterwards, Sinha was feeling unwell before the broadcast, but decided to go ahead with it after drinking a glass of water.
However, it was during the longish programme that she felt her blood pressure drop drastically. This lead to Sinha’s speech getting slurred and her losing vision of the teleprompter before eventually succumbing to a complete blackout. Studio hands rushed to her aid, but it took some time to revive her. The lack of consistent hydration was most probably the reason for Sinha’s fainting.
It is not clear whether the Doordharshan studio was properly ventilated. But the heat generated from the studio lights most probably proved stifling for the lady anchor. Met officials from India Today recorded pervasive heat registering as high as 44 degrees celsius across not only West Bengal, but other Indian states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telengana. It appears that even a roof over one’s head, like at the TV studio, isn’t enough to beat the heat.
