LAHORE, Sept 5: A powerful windstorm on Friday caused the collapse of several structures and uprooted hoardings and trees in different parts of the city that left 17 people injured.

The felling of billboards and trees on The Mall, Gulberg, Kalma Chowk, Shadman, Iqbal Town and near the Jinnah Hospital also caused a massive traffic jam there and on connecting roads.

In Dubbanpura (Sabzazar), Safia and her children – Rukhsana, 5, and Sajid, 7 – where trapped in the rubble when the roof of their house caved in. A Rescue 1122 team shifted them to the Jinnah Hospital.

In another incident, the boundary wall of labourers’ camps in Nadirabad collapsed causing injuries to nine people, including women and children. Rescue1122 officials rescued them and shifted them to the Lahore General Hospital.

The injured were: Muhammad Ramzan, 18, Bashir, six, Zubaida, six, Zainab, 40, Rukhsana, 10, Abdul Sattar, 60, Rehman, eight, Muhammad Shakoor, five, and Zainab Parveen, 12.

Two people were injured when the wall of a school collapsed in Nawankot.

Rescue workers shifted the injured to hospital.

In another wall collapse incident at Barra Sanda, Khalid Mehmood, 32, was critically injured and admitted to Mayo hospital.

A transformer in Dubai Chowk, Allama Iqbal Town, exploded when a hording fell on it.

A massive traffic jam was witnessed on Motorway when high voltage electricity cables fell on it. The rescue staff disconnected the wires and provided first aid to two minors.

Dust storm: The storm having a velocity of 97km per hour began after a dark cloud cover at around 4pm. The dust it raised settled by the rain that followed.

The Met office recorded 7mm of rain at the airport and 2.4mm at its Jail Road observatory.

Weather became pleasant afterwards, and there were no traces of mugginess experienced by people earlier in the day.

The Met office said the storm and the rain were generated by a westerly wave over the Northern Areas, the well marked seasonal low over northeast Balochistan, and the southwest moist air current.

It forecast fairly widespread thunderstorm/rain with isolated moderate to heavy falls with gusty winds over the NWFP, north Punjab and Kashmir during the next 24 hours. — Staff Reporter