Downpour: Three killed, 14 injured in rain-related accidents

Crops on more than 3,000 acres in Sheikhupura district damaged.

GUJRANWALA/ SHEIKHUPURA:

Three women were killed and at least 14 people were injured on Friday in rain-related accidents in Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts.

In Gujranwala, Bashiran Bibi, 55, was killed when the roof of her house in Fayyaz Town collapsed.

In another incident, Nasreen, 45, was killed when the roof of her house in Mohalla Habibpura, Kamoke, collapsed. Shahbaz, a resident of Tilwandi Khajoorwali, was also injured when the roof of his house collapsed on Friday.

Shahbaz’s wife, Humaira Bibi, and his son, Saad, were injured in the incident. They were taken to Civil Hospital where their condition was later reported to be out of danger.

When the roof of a snooker club in Khilali Shahpur Bazaar collapsed, six people, including Afzaal, Mubashar, Naeem and Naimatullah, were injured.



Crops on more than 3,000 acres in five tehsils of Sheikhupura district were damaged and roofs of more than 50 houses caved in following heavy rain showers on Thursday and Friday.

The roof of a house collapsed in the Bhaidur Minara area in Saddar, killing a woman, Asma bibi, and her son, Hassan Ali. Five people were injured in Khanqah Dogran, Sharaqpur, Muridke and Safdarabad in rain-related accidents. In Jewanpura Deg, a 100-foot stretch of road was destroyed. Water entered Sheraz Garden and its adjacent localities. Residents spent hours trying to remove water from their house on self-help basis.

District Coordination Officer Ali Jaan Khan has directed all assistant commissioners, executive district officers (health) and the Labour district officer to monitor the situation and relief work, especially in Ferozewala tehsil. The DCO said that medical and relief camps had been set up in the five tehsils. He said 372 indoor and 229 outdoor teams had been formed to take preventive measures against dengue larvae breeding. He said leaves of public officials had been cancelled.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2013.