June 04, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1429

JACOBABAD, June 3: Three minor children, a woman and a man were killed and six other people suffered injuries when duststorm followed by strong winds and heavy rain brought down walls and uprooted trees and signboards in many districts of upper Sindh late on Monday night.

In Kandhkot, stormy winds uprooted trees and signboards and blew away roofs of many mud-thatched houses and brought down walls of five houses, killing a minor boy and a woman.

Ms Hani was killed when the wall of her house fell on her near Degree College Kandhkot and five-year-old Allahdad Golo died and Ms Noor Jehan, Ms Bano, Ms Shahnaz, Pappu Golo and Shahnawaz were injured in a similar incident in Azad Golo village.

In Sukkur, two minor children lost their lives and a man suffered injuries when stormy winds and torrential rains, which started late on Monday night and continued till Tuesday morning, brought down walls of their houses in different areas of the district.

The duststorm and stormy winds followed by torrential rain in some areas also hit Pano Akil, Ghotki, Mirpur Mathelo, Daharki, Ubauro, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kandhkot, Thull and their adjoining areas.

The duststorm was so severe that it uprooted hundreds of signboards, hoardings and trees and blew away roofs of many mud-thatched houses.

Mir Hassan Khushk was killed and his cousin Akbar Khushk were injured when wall of their house collapsed on them in Garhi Chakar village near Mirpur Mathelo, and Rafiq, 5, and Zuhra, 7, died after heavy rain brought down wall of their house in Anwar Abad locality of Ghotki.

In another incident, strong winds induced fire in Arsala Banglani and Khadim Ali Bugti villages near Thull, reducing more than 20 huts with household items to ashes.

Power supply to most of the areas was suspended with the start gusty winds and was restored this morning.

In Khairpur, duststorm followed by heavy rain paralysed life in the city and its adjoining areas and badly affected traffic on the National Highway and other roads late on Monday night.

The strong winds and rain caused many trees in lemon and mango orchards to shed their almost ripe fruit. It also did harm to date palm orchards.

Duststorm followed by rain continued for an hour in Kingri, Gambat, Sobhodero and Faiz Ganj, uprooting signboards of shops and offices and disrupting telephone and electricity systems.

There were reports of light rain from other parts of the district. Dawn Report