KHARTOUM, (AFP)- More than 40 people have died of sunstroke after temperatures soared in Port Sudan on the Red Sea in recent days, a Sudanese press report said Tuesday.

The independent Akhbar Al Youm daily said the port city is experiencing its most intense heat wave in 10 years, with temperatures exceeding 50°C (122 F). However, Monday afternoon the official weather station at Port Sudan logged 45°C (113 F) and more heat is expected.

It quoted Red Sea state health minister Mohamed al-Hassan Abdel Hafiz as saying more than 70 people had suffered from sunstroke, of whom more than 40 had died. He said his ministry had prepared special air-conditioned wards in hospitals for treatment of the sunstroke victims.