At least 19 dead in rain-related incidents in Karachi

At least 19 people lost their lives in different incidents in Karachi after heavy rains battered the port city on Tuesday, Aaj News reported.

The casualties include women and children, with deaths reported from electrocution, house collapses and drowning in flooded drains.

In Gulistan-e-Jauhar, a house wall collapsed, killing five members of a family, including two women and three children. In another incident, an eight-year-old boy died in Orangi Town’s Dabba Mor area.

Rescue officials confirmed that nine people died of electrocution in different parts of the city, including two brothers in Shah Faisal Colony, two men in Defence, and a 65-year-old man in North Karachi.

Separately, a fire at a petrol pump in Malir City killed one person and injured three others, while the body of a man, believed to have died a day earlier, was recovered from PECHS Block 6.

As per Radio Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif telephoned Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday to discuss the situation and also offered the government’s all-out assistance to the Sindh government to deal with this emergency.

The PM directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman to remain in constant touch with the Sindh government and fully cooperate with them regarding their needs during the emergency.

On Tuesday, Karachi woke up to heavy rainfall that led to vast urban flooding as well as power and internet outages.

The Met Office has forecast more widespread rain-wind/thundershowers, with scattered heavy to very heavy falls in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Sujawal, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Tharparkar, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, and Shaheed Benazirabad between August 19 and 22.

Northern and south-eastern parts of Balochistan, including Gwadar, Kech, Khuzdar, Sibi, Zhob, Panjgur, Barkhan, and Musakhel, are also on alert for flash floods. Isolated showers are expected in Islamabad, upper Punjab, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Since June 26, the cumulative death toll across the country has reached 707 and injuries at 967 during this monsoon season owing to flash floods, landslides, mudslides and other incidents, as per NDMA.