Deaths, destruction as heavy torrential rains batter cities across Pakistan

Nine people lost their lives as different parts of the country were again pounded by heavy monsoon rains, accompanied by strong winds, late Friday night and Saturday morning, bringing much-needed respite to the heat-stricken people, and at the same time inundating low-lying areas, destroying crops and resulting in the suspension of power supply in several areas, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.   

In Faisalabad, three people, who were workers at Ibrahim factory, were killed after the roof of their room situated inside the factory came crashing down due to rain.

The deceased were identified as Rizwan, Wasif and Musawwir. However, the Rescue 1122 personnel managed to pull one worker out of the rubble alive who was later shifted to Allied Hospital.

In another rain-triggered tragedy, three friends drowned while taking a bath in swollen Nullah Dek in Zafarwal.

The Rescue personnel were able to recover one body while search for two others were underway.

In another rain-related mishap, a woman and her son died when roof of their house collapsed amid heavy downpour in Bhobatiyan Chowk in Lahore on Saturday morning.

Another woman breathed her last when roof of her mudhouse came down amid rain in Chak No 431GB.

The Rescue personnel handed over the body of 35-year-old Abida wife of Shahbaz to the heirs of necessary paperwork.

In another incident in Lahore, two people were injured in a roof collapse incident at Queens Road.

The swollen River Chenab has wreaked havoc in many localities if Hafizabad including Mahmoodpur, Kot Hussain, Bhon Fazil.

The floodwater also destroyed standing crops on hundreds of acres of land, triggering protests by the local residents against the authorities for failing to do nothing.

Several villages were also submerged in the floodwater and crops destroyed after River Chenab burst its banks in Sargodha.

The land route between Peshawar and Landi Kotal was cut off on Saturday after heavy rains pummeled District Khyber.

The floodwater also inundated the Pakistan-Afghan highway suspending the traffic. This led to trapping of hundreds of passengers and vehicles on both sides of the highway.

Heavy rain lashed different parts of Punjab, including the provincial capital Lahore.

Besides Lahore, rain was also reported from Rawalpindi, Daska, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sargodha, Jhang, Nowshera Virkan, Narowal, Muridke, Shahkot, Faisalabad, Nankana Saheb, Sarai Alamgir, Kharian, Khanewal, Multan, Lodhran, Jalalpur Pirwala and other cities of the province.

Rain was particularly heavy in Faisalabad and Multan.

In Multan, rain broke a 30-year-old record as water got accumulated on different roads of the city, thus significantly retarding the flow of traffic.

Similarly in Rawalpindi, the water level in Nullah Lai rose following intermittent rain. The WASA staff kept monitoring the situation.

Shamsabad area of the city received the highest amount of rainfall, totaling 38 millimeters.

The rainwater was also mixed with sewage, due to which bad smell started emanating from the areas. People said that WASA was to blame for the situation.

Similarly, there were reports of downpours from different parts of Sindh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan as well.

It rained cats and dogs in upper Sindh cities namely Daharki, Obaro, Mureed Shakh, Ghotki, which flooded low-lying areas and even main roads and also led to power breakdown as several feeders were tripped.  

However, it provided people a breather from hot and sultry weather.

Rain was also reported from Shikarpur, Matiari, Hala and other areas of the province, including Khairpur where everything was drenched following the downpour that lasted for three hours.      

However, nobody from the administration visited the affected areas to drain out water.

Showers also reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Different parts of KP, including Peshawar and Mardan, also received heavy rains that turned low-lying areas and roads into pools of water.

Torrential rains lashed Landikotal and other tehsils of district Khyber, turning the weather extremely pleasant.  

Different cities of Balochistan receive downpours

Likewise, several cities in Balochistan, including Chaman and Noshki, also received showers.

Intermittent rain in Dera Bugti and its suburbs for the last two days besides turning the weather pleasant also left several city areas under knee-deep water.

Met Office forecasts more rains

On the other hand, the weather department forecast more downpours for different areas of the country during the next 24 hours.

It said that showers, accompanied by strong winds were expected in most of the cities of Punjab, Sindh, KP, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and AJK during the aforementioned period.

The department said heavy rainfall was likely in central and southern Punjab, Sindh and eastern Balochistan due to which floods were feared in the nullahs and streams of Dera Ghazi Khan, Kalat, Khuzdar, Barkhan, Lasbela, Sibbi, Kohlu, Harnai, Naseerabad, Jaafarabad, Zhob, Bolan, Dadu, Murree, Galyat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Chitral, GB, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Nowshera, Swabi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, north-eastern Punjab and Kashmir.

Likewise, it predicted flooding in Punjab cities namely Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Nowshera while landslides in mountainous areas of AJK and GB.  

Reporters: Rana Faran Yamin, Tayyab Maqbool, Waqar Hussain Mangi, Shakil Sultan, Mehr Imran, Irshad Qureshi, Jahanzeb Afridi, Isa Tarin, Arif Bugti, Farhan Ijaz, Zawar Kazmi, Mian Mazhar, Waqas Ahmad and Gulrez Iqbal