News
Monday, June 07, 2010
Rains kill 15 as Phet hits Pakistan* More than half of Karachi plunges into darkness as KESC system malfunctions
* More than 10,000 houses damaged in Gwadar and JiwaniKARACHI: Heavy rains and winds lashed Karachi and other coastal cities on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and injuring several others as Cyclone Phet swirled along the country’s coastal line.
The cyclone, which was expected to hit Karachi with maximum winds of 100 kilometres (60 miles) an hour, weakened and went away from the city after hitting Thatta and Badin coastal districts, said Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
At least 12 people were killed and many others injured in different parts of Karachi during the heavy rains. Waseem Ahmed was electrocuted when he touched an electric wire, which fell in front of his house near Chowkandi graveyard due to windstorm. The Shah Latif police, however, said Ahmed was trying to pilfer electricity.
Jannat Bibi and four-year-old Laiba were electrocuted in two different incidents near the Daud Chowrangi and Shershah localities respectively.
The cyclone also caused breakage of electric supply lines in Bahadurabad, Nazimabad No 2, Baloch, City Railways and Siraj colonies where Muhammad Shah, 12-year-old Yahya, Saleem Khan, Muhammad Nadeem and an unidentified teenager were killed by receiving electricity shocks.
An unidentified body was also recovered from Street No 2 at Burns Road where an electricity wire fell on the deceased, while another was found near the Malir Bridge. In the Habib Bank Chowrangi locality, police identified the electrocuted body of 22-year-old Fazal Hussain while the body of Khan Bahadur was found in Gulshan-e-Sikandarabad.
Three people were electrocuted in the Tando Haider, Hala Naka and Naseemnagar areas of the Haiderabad district. The deceased were identified as Abdullah, Ajmal and Ayub Sheikh.
Power situation: More than half of Karachi’s localities plunged into darkness as the Karachi Electric Supply Company’s (KESC) power system malfunctioned due to heavy rains and wind.
In Haiderabad, around 35 of the 78 feeders installed by the Haiderabad Electricity Supply Company (HESCO) to provide electricity to the district failed to work, suspending power supply to most areas, said HESCO Chief Engineer (Operations) Musa Mirbahar.
Relief work: President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered lawmakers in Sindh to speed up relief work in areas expected to be battered by torrential rains, said an official statement.
Hundreds of relief camps have been established in the affected areas but people have complained about the lack of facilities. “My family had gone to a relief camp a couple of days ago but there were not enough food and medical facilities,” Muhammad Hashim, a resident of the Karachi suburb of Rerhi Goth, told AFP.
Damage in Gwadar: In Gwadar and Jiwani, more than 10,000 houses were damaged, most of them collapsed after heavy rains and windstorm. The electricity remained suspended for the third consecutive day in Gwadar and there was no hope of its restoration in the next three days. The coastal highway between Ormara and Jiwani covering a distance of more than 250 miles was also inundated. atif raza/mohammad zafar/agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk