KARACHI: A dust storm coupled with light rain swept through several districts of southern and upper Sindh on Thursday causing some casualties and widespread damage, besides trouble to commuters, pede­s­trians and others.

The dust storm hit Hyderabad at around 5pm and continued to disrupt the routine life and vehicular movement for about 15 minutes as visibility turned poor, though it brought a pleasant change in weather conditions as the temperature dropped considerably.

Gusty winds caused serious damage to the mango orchards in the district, according to growers. “The fruit is ripe and any shedding means monetary losses to growers, said Mahmood Nawaz Shah, a mango grower.

SANGHAR: Two persons were killed and scores of others injured as dust storm hit Sanghar district on Thursday evening. It was followed by a spell of heavy rain.

Man, girl killed in Sanghar

Hospital sources confirmed arrival of 25 people with injuries of different nature they had sustained during the storm as gusty winds uprooted many trees and brought down billboards.

In Islamabad Colony, a girl, Noor Bibi Mallah, was killed when the wall of a house was pulled down by strong winds. In another storm-related incident, a man, Jameel Ahmed, lost his life in Panhwar Colony.

NAWABSHAH: Nawab­shah city and other towns and villages of Shaheed Benazirabad district on Thursday received moderate rains followed by the dust storm.

The rain brought down the temperature in the district, otherwise experiencing sizzling weather conditions.

NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Several moderate spells of rain lashed Naushahro Feroze and several other towns including Kandiaro, Halani, Mehrabpur and Bhiria city turning weather pleasant.

Twenty-five persons, mos­tly children, injured in different incidents were taken to the Sanghar Civil Hospital from Chotiariyoon, Kot Nawab village and Chak 22 for treatment. Widespread damage to houses and crops was caused by the storm in Tando Adam, Shahdadpur, Sinjhoro and some other parts of the district.

Many full-grown trees and electricity poles were uprooted in Nawabshah, Daur, Jam Sahab and other towns.

Electricity went off in Nawabshah city soon after the storm hit and could not be restored till late in the evening as it continued to rain intermittently.

Moderate to heavy spells of rain lashed many towns of Umerkot and Shikarpur districts late on Thursday evening, private TV channels add.

It was still raining when the last reports came in at around midnight, the reports suggested.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2019