Karachi experiences foggy morning, ‘very unhealthy’ air, flight disruptions
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As fog engulfed several areas of Karachi on Sunday morning and the city experienced “very unhealthy” weather conditions, flight disruptions and one road accident death were reported.
Low visibility due to fog was reported from Super Highway, Surjani Town, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, I.I. Chundrigarh Road, Clifton and Defence.
Updates on the Karachi airport’s website showed that multiple flights were cancelled or delayed in the morning.
Pakistan Airports Authority spokesperson Saifullah Khan confirmed in a statement that six international flights scheduled to land in Karachi had to be diverted due to fog.
The statement said that the diversion was a usual safety measure taken due to reduced visibility. It added that Pegasus Airlines, Eitehad Airways, Flyadeal and Gulf Air flights had been diverted to Muscat. Moreover, a Pakistan International Airlines flight that had departed from Madina, too, had to be divered to Muscat.
Similarly, Fly Jinnah flight arriving from Jeddah was diverted to Islamabad.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), shallow fog also engulfed the Rahim Yar Khan-Karachi Highway and Karachi-Lasbella Highway between 8am and 11am.
Air quality
Updates on air quality monitoring platform IQAir around 11:30am showed that the air quality was “very unhealthy” in the city, with an AQI reading of 282.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a measure of the concentration of various pollutants in the air, such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), coarse particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3). Any IQAir AQI ranking above 150 is considered “unhealthy” and above 200 is considered “very unhealthy”.
Road accident
Police, meanwhile, reported the death of a motorcyclist in an accident, attributing it to hazy weather conditions, among other factors.
South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Asad Raza told Dawn that the incident occurred on Clifton Bridge due to “smog, slippery roads and speeding”.
As his motorcycle slipped, he died on the spot, the DIG said, adding that his body was first taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and later handed over to his heirs.
