October 14, 2006	Saturday	Ramazan 20, 1427

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LAHORE, Oct 13: At least 16 people, four of them children, were injured when a fierce storm that was followed by rain lashed the city on Friday evening.

Six people suffered injuries when a wagon overturned in rain in Shahdara locality.

The storm uprooted many trees, billboards and electric poles and made aviation at the airport difficult, delaying many flights and forcing diversion of many others to other cities.

The traffic was disrupted in many parts of the city owing to uprooting of trees and billboards. Most of the localities plunged into darkness because of power supply disruption and thick pall of clouds. The electricity could not be restored to some areas till last reports came in.

What the unexpected rain did well to the people was a drastic change in weather by bringing about nip in the air. However, it disrupted traffic and shopping for Iftaar.

The velocity of the storm was recorded at 98km an hour at the airport and 74km an hour in the main city.

According to reports received from various parts of the city, Qasim, Iqra and Hassan, aged between five and 10 years, were injured when a wall of their house in Bilal Colony, Sanda, collapsed. They were taken to the Mayo Hospital where their condition was stated to be stable.

Two persons were injured as a signboard fell on them near Lohari Gate. In Shalamar, a child fell from the rooftop of his house under the impact of the storm and suffered wounds.

In Sabzazar, two people were injured when they found themselves under a wall debris. A man was injured as the broken glass of a window hit him in Defence and another man was hurt in Gulberg’s Industrial Area as his motorcycle slipped.

The rain continued till late in the night, preventing people from going for Eid shopping.

The airport authorities said the storm disrupted the flight schedule. A flight from Karachi was to reach Lahore at 5.45pm but it was diverted to Islamabad from where it returned at 7.30pm. A flight to Multan was delayed by more than three hours. It was to return to Lahore by 7pm but it was delayed till 9.30pm.

According to the local meteorological office, the storm and the rain were generated by a strong westerly system that could give more rain in the city and elsewhere in the central and northern Punjab during the next 24 hours.

It recorded 9mm of rain at its Jail Road Observatory and 8mm at the airport by 8pm. The day’s maximum temperature was 32 degrees Celsius which came down to 20 degrees C in the evening.