KARACHI, Aug 22: At least 10 people died in rain-related accidents, mostly electrocutions, as torrential rains lashed the city on Wednesday, leaving the civic infrastructure in tatters.
The approximately 80mm of rain that fell on Karachi ensured thin attendance in offices, schools and markets while public transport largely stayed off the roads. Train and flight schedules were also disrupted. The Met Office forecast more rain for Thursday.
Two people died from electrocution beneath the head office of the National Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday morning.
A duty officer of the Mithadar police station confirmed the deaths and identified the victims as Ghulam Abbas and Ashok Kumar. A small road located next to the NBP office was completely flooded with rainwater submerging the stairs of the building.
The two victims were apparently trying to pass through the accumulated water, slowly moving along the building, when they got electrocuted and died on the spot.
Their bodies kept lying half submerged in the water for quite some time before being removed.
An Edhi ambulance took the bodies to the Civil Hospital where police carried out legal formalities, the duty officer added.
Edhi sources said that in Mawajh Goth a father and son died from electrocution. However, they could not immediately identify the deceased.
Similarly, in Boating Basin a security guard, Muhabbat Ali, who was riding a bicycle, was electrocuted when an electric wire snapped and fell on him on Wednesday morning.
His body was sent to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities, police said.
In North Karachi, a 12-year-old girl, Dua, daughter of Islamuddin, also died from electrocution. The girl lost her life when she was passing close to an electric pole. Her body was sent to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities.
An unidentified elderly man, who was on his way to offer Fajar prayers, was electrocuted in Azizabad.
Edhi sources added that an unidentified person was electrocuted near Tower. The victim was passing through knee-deep water when he lost his life.
Record or no record?
The Faisal base recorded the maximum amount of rain, approximately 80mm — slightly more than 3 inches — on Wednesday while the Met Office, in its forecast for Thursday, said rain/thunderstorm with heavy rainfall might occur at scattered places in Sindh, especially western parts of the province including Karachi, during the next 12 hours.
Afterwards, the rainy system in the province is likely to dissipate gradually during the subsequent 18 hours.
The rainfall recorded at the city’s airport was 74mm, the Masroor base 75mm and at North Karachi it was 68.5mm.
The city had received approximately 191mm during the rains so far in August, and with Wednesday’s 80mm at Faisal base, the total came to around 271mm, which was 9mm more than the city’s existing record for August, which was 262mm, achieved in 1979. Routinely, the city receives approximately 60mm rainfall during August.
However, responding to Dawn’s queries from Islamabad, the Director-General of the Pakistan Metrological Department, Dr Qamaruzzaman Chaudhry, said that the rainfall record of 262.5mm was set at Karachi airport in August 1979, but so far in the current month the rainfall recorded at the airport was 248mm, at Masroor base it was 258mm, at Faisal base it was 232mm and North Karachi 230mm. So, technically speaking, August 1979’s record of 262.5mm remained unbroken so far, said the met chief.
Planes, trains and automobiles
Light rain had started on Tuesday evening and gained momentum during the night. By Wednesday morning it was in full fury, forcing the majority of people to remain indoors.
Many people did not go to their workplaces and a large number of shops also did not open in the major commercial centres like Saddar and M.A. Jinnah Road, owing to which the city presented a deserted look. Attendance in offices also remained thin.
The majority of public transport vehicles remained off the roads forcing the commuters who were brave enough to venture out to travel even on the roofs of the vehicles that were available. The small number of rickshaw and taxi operators that plied the roads made a windfall and exploited passengers by choosing to go to their preferred destinations at their desired fares.The movement of trains was disturbed due to the rains and on an average all the trains either coming from up-country or going up-country were running behind schedule by three to four hours.
Flight operations of PIA and Air Blue were also disturbed as the flights of both of these carriers operated a few hours behind schedule, according to information provided by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Residents of the city, who had just recovered from the after-effects of the rains that had lashed the city some 10 days ago, once again feared for a few more days of misery following Wednesday’s rains.
KARACHI, Aug 22: At least 10 people died in rain-related accidents, mostly electrocutions, as torrential rains lashed the city on Wednesday, leaving the civic infrastructure in tatters.
