SHEIKHUPURA, Aug 9: A woman was swept away by strong gushing water when she was washing clothes of her children near Nullah Dek on Saturday.

At least 20 villages submerged in flood water near Muridke and Narang Mandi.

According to reports, Musarat Bibi, wife of Nazir (resident of Khori), was washing clothes at the bank of nullah when water currents drifted her into deep. The woman, mother of four, could not surface again.

Meanwhile, the flood water entered the villages and affected mud-houses and crops of the local farmers.

labourers killed: Two labourers were suffocated to death and five others fainted while cleaning a 25 feet deep well in a local paper and board mill on Saturday.

The management of Waqar Paper and Board near Mandiali on Lahore Road deputed seven labourers to clean the factory well. The sweltering heat and suffocation caused the seven labourers, who were at work in the deep well, to faint. Consequently, two of them identified as Akram of Mohallah Rehmanpura, Sheikhupura, and Abbas of Bahawalpur died on the way to hospital. Yousaf, Shabbir, and three others, unidentified so far, were admitted to hospital.