• Two of the three victims die from electrocution
• Met office forecasts more rain today

KARACHI: At least three people, including a minor boy, were killed and five others received injuries in different rain-related incidents as most parts of the metropolis were battered by short, but intense, spell of heavy downpour and thunderstorm preceded by strong dusty winds on Sunday.

While major roads in the metropolis were mostly cleared of rainwater, local streets were submerged with downpour.

The minor boy was killed while five others were injured when the wall of a house collapsed during rains in Ittehad Town during the evening shower, area SHO Imdad Panhwar said.

The officer added that the house was located in a hilly area near Khyber Chowk where the wall collapsed and fell down on six people, including five children.

They were taken to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi where doctors pronounced seven-year-old Irfan Rehmat dead on arrival.

Rehmat’s 40-year-old mother Lubna, his two-year-old brother Irsalan, and three siblings — seven-year-old Farman, eight-year-old Mahnoor Azizullah, and six-month-old Mirha Azizullah — were admitted for treatment.

In another rain-related incident, a young man was electrocuted in Surjani Town.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that Shakeel Ahmed died from an electric shock during a rain-related incident in Rozi Goth near Daulat-i-Mustafa Masjid.

Surjani police SHO Ghanwar Mahar confirmed that the man died from electric shock because of the rains.

In the third incident, 32-year-old Danish Waleed died when he suffered an electric shock inside a company at Gulshan Chowk near Alam Kanta in Ittehad Town, said an Edhi Foundation spokesperson.

Downpour in city

The city received light to heavy showers in different areas under the current monsoon spell on Sunday.

The meteorological department office forecast that the trend might stay for another a day or two.

Most parts of the city witnessed thunderstorms and heavy winds in the second half of the day after hours long hot and humid weather conditions.

The heavy rains coupled with strong cold winds brought the much-needed relief for residents.

However, a Met official said that the majority of areas received brief spells of downpour as in many neighbourhoods the rain count remained under single digit and some areas recorded only traces.

The maximum 20 millimetres of rain was recorded in Surjani Town followed by Quaidabad where 10.5mm of downpour was counted.

“It rained less than what we had expected,” said Sardar Sarfraz Ahmed of the meteorological department.

“The current spell is likely to stay for another day or two with the same expectation of light to moderate showers with frequent breaks in different parts of the city. Once this spell is over, we do not see any major development for next two weeks that could develop any new system. But we keep tracking the situation and monitoring the models for timely forecast if things change in the meantime.”

Meanwhile, light to moderate spell of downpour and deployment of civic workers and machinery helped the city administration to contain the situation to some extent.

Although the sewage overflow at Nagan Chowrangi and other parts of Central district remained under control this time, neighbouring Shadman Town nullah overflowed causing severe traffic problems in the neighbourhood.

The power supply in most parts of the city witnessed breakdowns soon after the first drop of shower which took hours to restore.

The cellular phone and internet services also remained affected in many parts of the city.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023