\Karachi, July 19 (Inditop.com) At least 22 people have been killed and 150 others injured at the weekend in various incidents caused by heavy rains in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, media reports said Sunday.
Most of the deaths occurred due to buildings collapsing and electrocution caused by the first spell of monsoon rains in the city, the police and hospital sources said.
In the Ramswami area of the city, a portion on the sixth floor of a building collapsed and the debris fell on an adjacent house, killing four members of a family and injuring 10, the Geo TV said.
In another incident, several people were injured after the roof of a house collapsed in the Orangi area. Two other people died in a similar accident in the city.
The injured have been taken to hospitals.
In yet another incident, a five-year-old child was drowned in the Hawksbay area.
The police said seven people were electrocuted in various incidents in different parts of the city. Eleven more people were injured when the wall of a house collapsed near the Hamdard University in Manghopir area.
The Dawn newspaper said more than 150 people were injured after heavy rains and strong winds battered the city Saturday night. However, the newspaper put the toll at 18.
Many of the victims were women and children living in shanties, it said.
Officials said most parts of the Karachi city were plunged in complete blackout after a 550-KV transmission line near Multan snapped. The workers were trying to restore the power line Saturday night.
The Dawn added that at least 68 electricity supply cables were broken, affecting nine grid stations and nearly 300 electricity distribution feeders in different localities, disrupting power supply to a vast area of the metropolis.
Meanwhile, the Karachi Electricity Supply Cooperation (KESC) has declared a ‘red alert’ and recalled all its employees on leave to deal with the emergency situation.
The major roads, intersections and roundabouts in the city were submerged under knee-deep water, causing traffic jams, the newspaper said.
The showers continued intermittently throughout Saturday with some parts getting up to 84 mm of rain, while other areas received about 25 mm of rain.
The meteorological department said the Karachi City received 142 millimeters of rain Saturday.
The city’s chief weatherman, Mohammad Riaz, said the system causing the rain would dissipate in the next 24 hours beginning Saturday evening.
Sindh, Punjab, upper North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistan-administered Kashmir are expected to receive rains with thunderstorms in the next 48 hours beginning Saturday evening, the Dawn said citing the department.
