KARACHI: As heavy rain disrupted life in the city for the fifth consecutive day on Friday, six people died in different parts of the metropolis, five of them of electrocution.

Karachi received 57.5 millimetres, or 2.2 inches, of rain on Friday and the Met Office said more rain is expected on Saturday (today).

The rain played havoc with the ill-maintained transmission and distribution system of the K-Electric as power supply was disrupted in many parts of the city and took hours to be restored.

Hours-long traffic jams on key arteries were also witnessed in the aftermath of the rain. Civic authorities also failed to drain out rainwater accumulated in various city areas including main roads till late in the night.

Electrocution deaths

Two motorcyclists suffered electric shock and died when a live wire snapped from a pole-mounted transformer (PMT) and fell on them near a seminary in SITE.

The wire apparently fell due to the heavy rains, said SITE-A SHO Saleem Awan. He identified the victim as Abdul Rauf, 35, and Abdul Mannan, 45. The bodies were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

The officer said they would wait for victims’ relatives for registration of an FIR to pursue the case legally.

Power failures, traffic jams hit the metropolis; the Met Office describes city’s weather conditions as a ‘bit unusual’

In Moosa Colony, two brothers were electrocuted in the evening. An Edhi Foundation spokesperson said that accumulated rainwater entered a house and a live electric wire fell in the water, killing 11-year-old Javed and 14-year-old Saleem.

Eight-year-old Arman died of electric shock inside his house in Hijrat Colony. The body was brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, but the child’s relatives took it away without completing medico-legal formalities.

Boy feared drowned

A boy was feared drowned in the Lyari River that swelled after the rain on Friday evening.

Liaquatabad SHO Liaquat Hayat said that some boys were playing at the bank of the Lyari River when two of them drowned near Teen Hatti area. One of them was rescued immediately but the other one drowned.

He said efforts were under way to recover him. He was identified as seven-year-old Sufiyan Karamat.

Meanwhile, a woman suffered an electric shock while walking on a footpath in Boat Basin. She was saved by area people who shifted her to a hospital for treatment.

SSP South Sheeraz Nazeer said that Samia Irfan became unconscious and fell there due to the electric shock. She was shifted to the JPMC from where she got discharged after initial medical treatment.

Meanwhile, a KE spokesperson said that the power utility regretted the loss of human lives in SITE due to electrocution.

Soon after the incident, the KE immediately disconnected the power supply in the area. “The incident was being probed,” he added.

Nazimabad receives maximum rainfall

The Met Office said that maximum rain, 57.5mm or 2.2 inches, was recorded in Nazimabad followed by Saddar and Surjani Town, 45mm each; 33mm at Masroor Base; 20mm in Landhi; 27mm in North Karachi, 11mm at Faisal Base, 3mm in Gulistan-i-Jauhar/University Road and 2mm of rain was recorded in Airport area.

The maximum and minimum temperature was 34.3°C and 25°C. The humidity was 84 per cent in the evening.

It said that rain/wind/thunderstorm was expected at isolated places in lower Sindh on Saturday as the region was still under the influence of a low-pressure area built up across the border.

The weather is likely to remain hot and humid. The districts where rain is expected include Karachi, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Thatta and Badin.

“The sea breeze and cloudy weather is likely to return by Sunday evening in Karachi. We expect that these conditions could persist till Oct 6 (in the city),” said Sardar Sarfaraz of the Met department.

The month of September was part of the monsoon period in Pakistan, though weather conditions over the week experienced specifically in Karachi could be described as a “bit unusual”, he added.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2019