Six of a family among nine killed in tempest, heavy rain

Three people injured in rain-related accidents in critical condition

OKARA:

At least nine people, including six members of the same family, were killed when roofs and trees collapsed during wind storms and heavy rains in Okara on Monday.

Meanwhile, three people are in critical condition while six persons including two women were injured in different incidents.

Sources said black clouds covered the entire district in the evening, meanwhile, the roof of Bangla Gogira collapsed, killing 6 members of the same family and seriously injuring three others.

Separately, Sohail, a 50-year-old man, was killed when a tree fell on him in Ghousia Chowk and a 55-year-old man was crushed to death when a wall collapsed in Haveli Lakha on Hujra Road.

A motorcyclist was killed and six others, including two women, were injured in a motorcycle accident in Gogira.

There were also reports of fire incidents in two places during the storm.

Dozens of signboards in the railway bazaar have fallen. The power system has been suspended for three hours.

The city plunged into darkness. The WAPDA officials said that the power restoration work will begin as soon as the rains stop.

Last week, a minor lost his life when a huge tree fell on him due to a heavy dust storm in Muzaffargarh on Saturday.

Police informed that due to strong wind a huge tree was fell on 10 years old boy named Saleem at Kot Addu, Muzaffargarh who died on the spot.

The high intensity of dust storm destroyed many places of the area as roofs of many houses were reported flown away and several trees rooted out.

The electricity system was also affected due to the wind.

Early this year in January, Scattered rains in Lahore and other parts of the province resulted in a further drop in the mercury level while dozens of electric feeders went offline and prolonged shortage of natural gas aggravated the problems of citizens.

The rain also caused several accidents, including a lightning strike charring two cars in a shed at the engineering workshop of the Agriculture University in Faisalabad.

The cars parked for repairs caught fire due to the lightning strike and were destroyed before the fire brigade and Rescue 1122 doused it.

Citizens from several areas complained about frequent power failures owing to rains and non-availability of gas supply in their neighbourhoods.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2021.