SHIKARPUR: Five people, among them four of a family, died and 11 suffered injuries in rain-related accidents on roads in Shikarpur district when two successive dust storms with strong winds followed by hailstones and heavy rain battered almost entire upper Sindh region on Thursday.

People ran for shelter when it lashed Shikarpur and its adjoining towns of Garhi Yasin, Dakhan, Madeji, Khanpur, Lakhi Ghulam Shah, Chak and Rustam.

The dust storm made visibility so low that it caused a number of accidents. About 15 kilometres from here in Garhi Yasin, four children who were related to each other and a man who was their co-villager were killed when a concrete signboard, weakened by strong winds and rain, caved in on them.

They were identified as Babar Shah, 18, Zakir Shah, 4, Hina Bibi, 6, Mehrab Shah, 16, who belonged to Zaman Shah family of Juman Shah village, and Hamadullah Abro, 17.

In another accident near Jahan Khan village, 11 people were seriously injured when their motorcycles collided with one another.

The dust storm followed by rain and hailstorm also hit Sukkur and adjoining towns uprooting signboards, trees and electricity poles.

The dust storm and heavy rain landed once again on the upper Sindh region at around 9:00pm with more ferocity and the downpour continued to lash the area till the last report was filed a little before midnight.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2015

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